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May 11, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) reacts after he is fouled during the first half in game four of the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect (Reuters)
LeBron James is washed. Or he has another great season loading. The truth depends on your algorithm as two similar, but extremely different, videos hit social media. Both videos showed James playing pickup basketball. Neither told the complete truth about what happened.
With James gearing up for his 24th season and just a few months short of turning 42, Philadelphia 76ers fans should probably be encouraged. Not that he’s perfect, but that he still looks good enough on a basketball court to inspire nefarious edits meant to make him look bad.
One of the videos, with a runtime of a minute and three seconds, was captioned, “LeBron James putting up absolute BRICKS in open runs.” There was also a crying laughing emoji. That was posted at 5:49 a.m. ET.
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The LeBron bricks edit
LeBron James putting up absolute BRICKS in open runs 😭 pic.twitter.com/2ZhYxfdzsK
— Yaxel LendeBeast (@GMZeroOG) September 22, 2026
A few hours later a second video hit the timeline. That one was captioned, “Lebron James DOMINATED in this open run,” with the eyes emoji. See if you can spot the difference. Just kidding.
The difference is the ball goes in the basket every single time.
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The LeBron doesn’t age edit
Lebron James DOMINATED in this open run👀 pic.twitter.com/fJwxwutIME
— MAL (@MindOfBron) September 22, 2026
If it weren’t for the fact that this is the same people wearing the same clothes you wouldn’t have any idea those two videos were from the same run. Each effectively communicated the editor’s opinion on LeBron James with the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
Make sure to like and share whichever version lines up with your feelings of LeBron James.
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LeBron James full open run video
These videos come from a run earlier this month at Crespi Carmelite High School in Los Angeles.
Complex reposted a clip from the run on TikTok a couple weeks ago. The full video was posted on YouTube on Monday night, which means that both those videos were cut together in less than 12 hours of the original being posted online. Two separate people looked an an hourlong video and cut together two edits that could not be more diametrically opposed.
If nothing else, NBA X remains a lively home of basketball discourse populated by some of the most deranged people you can imagine.
If you watch the whole video you’ll see that LeBron was playing with Jalen Johnson, DeMar DeRozan, Jaren Jackson Jr., Peyton Watson, DeAndre Jordan, Utah Jazz guard Isaiah Collier, Brooklyn Nets big man Noah Clowney and Atlanta Hawks rookies Kingston Flemings and Zuby Ejiofor, among others.