Shortly before the season began, LeBron James took a strong stance on AI-generated content of him. So he clearly doesn’t like things made up about him. But that was unfortunately what happened again when his 18-year record of the longest 10+ point game streak ended. James had eight points in tonight’s clutch 123-120 win over the Toronto Raptors. Obviously, he was asked about it after the game. And a clip of his supposed answer seems to drop the R-bomb.

A video going around on social media claims James’ response to losing his streak was, “I’m old. I’m done. I’m going to retire.”

After a thorough check by EssentiallySports’ fact-check team, we can confirm that this statement is absolutely false.

Some netizens ate it up. They commented that James should’ve retired sooner, or the Los Angeles Lakers should’ve traded him way back.

The smarter ones, however, claim this clip is AI-generated. But it doesn’t carry Meta’s identifying labels.

Part of what James said was accurate, though. This video was an older post-game presser in which the Lakers veteran joked about his age, reacting to becoming the 2nd player ever to score 40+ points at age 40.

“I’m old, that’s what I think,” James said in February. “Give me a glass of wine and some sleep.”

What really went down during and after the game was beyond anything we could have expected. The actual media scrum took place in the Lakers’ locker room at ScotiaBank Arena in Toronto. James was dressed; unlike in the false clip, it had a different background, a different locker room, and a different answer.

LeBron James made his real thoughts known and quashed the ‘selfish’ narrative completely

LeBron James officially scored 10 or more points in 1,297 consecutive games from January 6, 2007, to December 1, 2025. He could’ve gone 1,300, but that last game hit different. The Lakers were hoping to extend a seven-game winning streak when they hosted the Phoenix Suns. But James struggled across three quarters and finally managed to tally up 10 points by the end of the final quarter.

By then, James had stayed in the game long enough to annoy fans. They accused him of being selfish and not letting his teammates score.

Tonight, the Lakers veteran flipped that expectation.

Austin Reaves tied the game at 120. Forty seconds were left on the clock. Brandon Ingram failed to make a shot that could’ve won the Raptors the game. The ball was then in James’ possession, and he had all the opportunity to shoot, get his points up to 10, and be the hero behind the win.

Instead, he made a pass. Rui Hachimura caught it and hit the game-winning three. That was James’ 11th assist tonight, a game-high and putting those ‘selfish’ rumors to rest.

James was celebratory on the floor. In the locker room, reporters asked him if he had any bitter feelings about losing his streak.

“None. We won.”

That was LeBron James’ real answer.

Rhymes a lot with “I’m done,” but that was never said. It was loud and clear too.

There was also no mention of retiring. He’s not even going to slow down. James claimed he wouldn’t change anything; he’d make that pass anytime because it’s “playing the game the right way.” But he’s not going to remain in single digits either. He intends to get back to scoring double digits in future games.

Best not to mind the fake clips going around. Earlier this summer, James’ lawyers sent cease-and-desist letters to generative AI companies for creating some bizarre deepfake content of him. So if he doesn’t like the new content going around, he’ll surely react.