• Drake dropped three surprise albums overnight — Iceman, Habibti, and Maid of Honour — his first solo releases since 2023’s For All The Dogs
• On Iceman track “Make Them Remember,” Drake appears to take direct shots at LeBron James over team-switching and the Kendrick Lamar feud
• The diss references LeBron’s No. 23 jersey and Lamar’s hit “DNA,” making it a two-for-one jab
• Drake and James were once close friends — Drake even walked out with LeBron and Bronny James at his 2023 tour stop in LA
• James has since covered his LeBron tattoo with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s No. 2 and “Thunder” — a detail that says plenty on its own

Drake didn’t just drop an album Friday. He dropped three — and one track in particular has the internet talking about basketball as much as rap.

The Toronto superstar released Iceman, Habibti, and Maid of Honour overnight on May 15, with zero advance notice, marking his first solo studio albums since For All The Dogs in 2023. Iceman — the 18-track, bar-heavy centerpiece of the trio, featuring Future, 21 Savage, and Molly Santana — is where the real heat lives. And Track 14, “Make Them Remember,” went viral before the album even officially dropped, when a leaked version surfaced on social media and fans immediately caught the shots aimed at LeBron James.

“I shouldn’t even be shocked to see you in that arena,” Drake raps, “because you always made your career off of switching teams up.”

The line is a clear reference to James’ journey from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Miami Heat, back to Cleveland, and eventually to the Los Angeles Lakers — but it also carries a second meaning. James was in that arena: he attended Kendrick Lamar’s “The Pop Out: Ken & Friends” concert at the Kia Forum in Inglewood on June 19, 2024, the concert that became a cultural flashpoint during Drake and Lamar’s nine-track public feud. James wasn’t just in the crowd — he was seen vibing to “Not Like Us,” Lamar’s most pointed diss at Drake. Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan eventually appeared on stage with Lamar that night too.

Drake follows it up with a line that doubles as a shot at both LeBron and Kendrick simultaneously: “Please stop asking what’s going on with 23 and me — he’s not, it’s in my DNA.”

The “23” references James’ jersey number, and “DNA” is a direct nod to Kendrick Lamar’s 2017 banger from his Grammy-winning album DAMN — which includes the line, “I got loyalty, got royalty inside my DNA.” Drake is essentially saying: don’t ask me about my loyalty to LeBron, and while we’re at it, here’s a Kendrick reference too.

How a Brotherhood Became a Beef

The Drake-LeBron friendship was once genuinely one of the more visible cross-industry bromances in pop culture. In 2018, Drake brought James on stage at a Los Angeles show while performing his verse on Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode.” And in 2023, after Bronny James suffered a cardiac arrest, Drake walked both LeBron and Bronny out at his LA stop of the It’s All a Blur Tour. The moment was emotional and public.

“I don’t know if you saw who walked me to the stage tonight,” Drake told the crowd that night, “but the gentleman that walked me to the stage tonight is my brother. He goes by the name of LeBron James. And in 2009, when nobody believed in anything I had going on, that same guy showed up to a release party for a mixtape called ‘So Far, So Gone.'”

Drake even had LeBron’s St. Vincent-St. Mary high school jersey tattooed on his left arm. But in July 2025, he revealed he’d covered it — replacing it with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s No. 2 and the word “Thunder” layered on top. That tattoo swap told the story before any lyrics did.

The “Make Them Remember” bars aren’t the first shots Drake has taken at James since the Lamar feud either. In January 2025, a track called “Fighting Irish Freestyle” surfaced — a reference to James’ high school — with the line, “The world fell in love with the gimmicks, even my brothers got tickets.” Then in February 2025, during a live performance in Perth, Drake changed a lyric in “Nonstop” from “How I go from six to 23 like I’m LeBron” to “How I go from six to 23 but not LeBron, man.” Each move was deliberate. Each one landed.

For his part, James addressed the state of their relationship in September on the podcast “360 With Speedy,” keeping it measured. “Always wish him the best obviously,” James said. “Different places right now, currently. He’s doing his thing, I’m doing mine, but it’s always love for sure.”

LeBron Isn’t the Only Name Drake Called Out

Iceman is a sprawling settling of scores. Kendrick Lamar is the through-line — Drake raps on the album opener “Make Them Cry,” “I’m in the cut just loading rebuttals” — and nearly every track has at least one sub aimed at Lamar or the West Coast broadly. On “Dust,” he raps, “What was the year you said you had slaps, cause I don’t remember it going like that, I don’t remember one word of your raps.” He also takes aim at Mustard: “Mustard heard about us, gotta catch up to the slaps / You ain’t had one since me and YG rapped.”

Rick Ross and DJ Khaled also get called out. On “Make Them Pay,” Drake raps, “Dawg, I was Adin Ross with streams before Adin Ross had ever streamed” — widely read as a reminder to Rick Ross of how much Drake contributed to his commercial run during the 2010s. Ross had joined the pile-on against Drake during the Lamar feud with his own diss track, “Champagne Moments.” For Khaled, Drake raps: “And Khaled, you know what I mean / The beef was fully live, you went halal and got on your deen” — a dig at Khaled for staying neutral as things escalated.

Not every NBA reference was a diss, though. Drake also shouted out Stephen Curry on “2 Hard 4 The Radio,” rapping, “Back when they was asking about where Davidson was at / now everybody got a blue 30 on they back.” A rare warm moment on an album that otherwise has a lot of scores to settle.

Drake also opened up on “Make Them Cry” about what the 2024 feud actually cost him personally: “What died back in 2024 was a big piece / So it’s like this s— is me, but it isn’t me / Y’all keep on asking what it did to me / That’s what it did to me.” He revealed his father is currently battling cancer, touched on his ongoing lawsuit against UMG, and reunited with Future, rapping on “Ran to Atlanta” that “me and Hendrix back by popular demand.”

There’s also been significant fan speculation about Drake’s label situation. Lines like “I’m better off independent, they should let him leave” and “Swear my label gotta free me, baby” have listeners wondering if this triple-drop is part of a larger strategy to fulfill — or escape — his deal with Republic Records, a division of UMG. All three projects are listed on streaming platforms as OVO “under exclusive license to Republic Records.”

As for LeBron — the Oklahoma City Thunder just swept his Lakers out of the playoffs. Drake, who replaced LeBron’s tattoo with the Thunder’s star player on his arm, surely noticed the timing. Sometimes the universe does the work for you.

The post Drake Disses LeBron James on New ‘Iceman’ Album appeared first on Cream.

• LeBron James, 41, became a free agent after the Lakers were swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round
• James finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds in Game 4 but declined to announce any decision on his future
• Retirement, a return to the Lakers, and moves to Cleveland or Golden State are all reportedly on the table
• Coach JJ Redick acknowledged the team “is not good enough right now” and a roster overhaul is likely coming
• The Lakers face up to eight unrestricted free agents this summer, making this the most uncertain offseason in years

Monday night at Crypto.com Arena felt like an ending. Whether it actually was one, only LeBron James knows — and right now, he’s not sure either.

The Los Angeles Lakers’ season came to a close with a 115-110 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals, completing a four-game sweep and sending the most talked-about player in basketball straight into the most consequential offseason of his career. James, 41, finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds in what could — emphasis on could — be the final game of his 23-year NBA career. He made no promises either way.

“I don’t know what the future holds for me, obviously, as it stands right now tonight,” James told reporters at the postgame podium. “I’ve got a lot of time now. I think I said it last year after we lost to Minnesota. I’ll go back and recalibrate with my family and talk with them and spend some time with them, and then obviously when the time comes, you guys will know what I decide to do.”

He said it calmly. Deliberately. The same way he’s navigated every major crossroads of his career — Cleveland to Miami, back to Cleveland, eventually to Los Angeles. Each time, he stepped away, reset, and came back with a decision that reshaped the league. This one carries a different weight, though. This time, retirement is a real option sitting at the table.

A Season That Deserved More

To understand why this offseason feels so loaded, you have to look at what the Lakers actually went through this year. They lost Luka Dončić to a Grade 2 hamstring strain and Austin Reaves to an oblique injury right as the playoffs began. Most of the basketball world wrote them off before the first tip of the first round. James didn’t get the memo.

He took charge of the offense, led a shorthanded squad into the postseason, and orchestrated a first-round upset of the fifth-seeded Houston Rockets in six games — sending L.A. to the second round for just the second time since 2020. Against the defending champions, without their two best players, the Lakers still forced Oklahoma City to a five-point margin in the clinching game.

“For our group to have the moment that we had when Luka goes down with the hamstring and AR goes down with the oblique and we’re staring down the barrel of a playoff series with Houston, I thought our guys responded and were just super-resilient,” James said. “To win that series was big-time for the group that went out there.”

His regular season stats — 20.9 points, 7.2 assists, and 6.1 rebounds per game — were modest by his own historical standards, partly because his 3-point shooting dipped to 31.7% and he averaged a career-low 33.2 minutes per night. He also missed training camp and the first 14 games with sciatica, which cost him any chance at All-NBA consideration. But the milestones kept coming anyway. He made his 22nd All-Star team. He became the oldest player in NBA history to record a triple-double before the All-Star break. He passed Robert Parish’s record for most regular-season games played. He played in his 302nd career postseason game — more than anyone in NBA history.

Oklahoma City superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was tasked with defending him all series, put it simply after the final buzzer.

“It’s amazing what he’s doing out there at this age,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s very impressive. It’s hard to put it to words. He’s not very old in the grand scheme of life, but for the NBA, he’s pretty old, and he doesn’t seem like it out there. He was a force. He was the top of the scouting report all series. His size gave us issues at times. He was impressive out there. I’m not sure we’ll see anything like that again, his longevity and his greatness.”

The Real Question: Does He Come Back, and If So, Where?

James will become an unrestricted free agent this summer, meaning he can sign with any team he chooses — or walk away entirely. He said he’ll talk with his wife, Savannah, his daughter Zhuri, and his son Bryce before making any call. He’s done this before, and he takes it seriously.

When asked what his decision process would look like, he went somewhere revealing.

“If I can commit to still being in love with the process of showing up to the arena five-and-a-half hours before a game to start preparing for a game, giving everything I got, diving for loose balls and doing everything that you know that it takes to go out and play,” James said. “I’ve always been in love with the process and not the aftermath of, OK, we won that game, or we won a championship. I’ve always enjoyed the process and not the outcome. So I think that would be a big factor.”

That’s not a man who sounds ready to hang it up. Dillon Brooks, the Phoenix Suns forward who was in attendance Monday night, agreed. “I don’t think it’s his last year,” Brooks told Yahoo Sports. “I think he got one more in him. I watched him when I was in the NBA, when I was a kid in high school. He’s got a phenomenal career and battled everybody and done it at a high level throughout.”

His former teammate Dwyane Wade weighed in too, saying James would “take some time off and go drink some wine” before making whatever decision was best for his family — and that whatever team he lands on, it won’t be just to collect a paycheck. “I don’t think no one knows,” Wade said. “I think one of the things that him and his entire team have been great at is they hold their cards close to their chest.”

The Lakers remain the most logical landing spot if he plays again. James has spent eight seasons in Los Angeles — the most with any franchise in his career — and the city is home. His family loves it there. He’s watched his son Bronny develop into an NBA player on the same roster, and they shared meaningful playoff minutes together this season. His 11-year-old daughter Zhuri is a competitive volleyball player in Southern California, and James has spoken frequently about wanting to be present for that chapter of her life.

CBS Sports analyst Sam Quinn put the Lakers’ chances of retaining him at 35%, the highest of any team. But the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors are also mentioned as genuine suitors. A homecoming to Cleveland — where James won a championship in 2016 — has long been floated as a sentimental possibility. The Warriors would offer a chance to finally team up with Steph Curry. The New York Knicks have also been mentioned in some circles.

The Lakers’ Bigger Offseason Problem

Even if James decides tomorrow that he wants to come back to L.A., the Lakers have a lot to figure out. Coach JJ Redick was emotional at the podium after the loss, honest about where the team stands.

“I believe in continuity,” Redick said. “But I do think that if you’re trying to win a championship and this organization is, you have to be realistic and assess where you’re at and we’re not good enough right now. There probably will be some continuity and there probably won’t be, but that’s what the next two months are for.”

The roster situation is genuinely complicated. The Lakers could have up to eight unrestricted free agents this summer. Austin Reaves — who missed the entire playoff run with an oblique injury — is expected to opt out of his $14.8 million deal and hit the open market, where the Lakers can offer him a five-year, $241 million max contract. Center Deandre Ayton, who averaged 12.5 points and 8.0 rebounds this season, can opt out of his $8.1 million deal. Marcus Smart, the team’s best defender and a locker room anchor, has a $5.3 million player option. Rui Hachimura, Luke Kennard, Maxi Kleber, and Jaxson Hayes are also in the final years of their deals. The deadline to exercise or decline options is June 29.

Dončić, who signed a three-year, $165 million extension last summer, is locked in through 2027-28 and is the clear centerpiece going forward. The organization’s new ownership has made no secret of the fact that they’re building around him. Fitting a 42-year-old James — however good he still is — into that construct, financially and stylistically, is a genuine question without an obvious answer.

The analytics paint a complicated picture too. Without Dončić in the lineup, the Lakers’ postseason offensive rating ranked near the bottom of the league, and James’ 3-point shooting efficiency — while his usage remained high — fell to the 46th percentile in true shooting percentage. The team finished the playoffs ranked 18th out of 20 in 3-point rate despite surrounding him with floor spacers all series.

None of that diminishes what he did. It just makes the math harder.

James walked off the Crypto.com Arena floor Monday night without much of a send-off — the crowd still processing a sweep, the locker room full of embraces and uncertain goodbyes. He shook hands with Gilgeous-Alexander, Alex Caruso, and Lou Dort before disappearing down the tunnel. Whether that was a farewell or just a pause, nobody knows yet.

“S*** I left everything I could out on the floor,” James said. “I control what I can control and I can leave the floor saying even though I hate losing, I was locked in on what we needed to do. I tried to make sure that our guys were locked in throughout the postseason. We fell a little short but I’m not looking at my year as a disappointment, that’s for damn sure.”

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