LeBron James is maximizing. The future Hall of Famer, once called the “cheapest guy in the NBA” by Dwyane Wade, is now the proud owner of a $3 million painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat, and the fans cannot wrap their heads around it..
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The painting in question is “Minor Success’ by Jean-Michel Basquiat. LeBron James showed it to the world on Vogue’s “Objects of Affection” video series, featuring his wife, Savannah James.
“In some of his early work, he didn’t have the money or the resources to actually put some of his works on canvas,” James explained in the video. “This is some of the first work where he started to use the crown and it resonated not only to me, it resonated to our family.”
James, now playing his first season with the 76ers, has recently come into the light of controversy online multiple times. Naturally, fans have their eyes on any update at all times.
“Rich people buy the dumbest and ugliest stuff,” one fan wrote, criticizing James’ expensive move despite Basquiat being a rather well-renowned artist.
Perhaps it’s a shock to fans who have seen James use free apps and free wifi, refusing to pay for cellular data for years.
Some fans couldn’t stop bashing the Basquiat piece, essentially calling out James for paying too much for the painting.
“Holy s**t. Looks like a kids painting. Think basquirt is incredibly overrated,” one fan complained.
Yet another fan took a dig at the $3 million expense whilst criticizing the artwork itself.
“It would be so cool to have the money to just blow millions on paintings that could have been done by 2nd graders,” the comment read.
The comments hit hard not only because of his fresh $8 million contract with the Philadelphia 76ers. It’s because LeBron James is one of the richest NBA players, worth roughly $1.6 billion. He is only below icons like Magic Johnson and, of course, Michael Jordan.
So while he seemingly shies away from overspending, ‘King’ James purchased one of Basquiat’s most expensive paintings at an auction for $3 million. Among the fans bashing the painting were a few admirers of the future Hall of Famer.
One fan attacked his choice to buy the painting in the first place.
“Athletes will spend millions on chaotic scribbles just to look cultured on camera while having zero actual taste in fine art, throwing money around because they can,” the fan said.
One fan noted how billionaire athletes like James diversify their finances.
“Nah finding out LeBron was the buyer is genuinely cinematic. people really don’t understand how many properties these athletes casually snap up. y’all skipped the part where athletes diversify their massive net worth into luxury real estate as a standard business move,” they said.
Finally, a fan chose to appreciate having the chance to get a house tour.
“It’s dope that King James and Queen James gave us a house tour,” the fan noted the silver lining.
James and the 76ers have won all three of their regular season games so far. He recently failed to play against the Milwaukee Bucks due to back pain and sciatica issues. However, he’s expected to play against the Pistons on October 25, 2026.