LeBron James has many critics for many reasons, as his success over the past two decades has come with all kinds of criticisms. In many ways, James has proven those critics wrong, and this year, he’s even poking fun at one of the biggest running jokes at his expense: his reading habits.
A commercial that is running throughout the NBA playoffs stars James as himself, as he directly attacks one of his viral talking points. The company, a mobile game called Royal Kingdom, has enlisted James as part of an ad campaign that includes many other celebrities, such as Jimmy Fallon and Shakira.
The Lakers star is going for his fifth title this year, hoping that he can lead Los Angeles to another championship. However, even if James and the Lakers are eliminated early, the forward’s presence will still be felt in the postseason with this commercial.
As Royal Kingdom’s ad is set to run over the next few months, here’s the origin and breakdown for James’ new ad.
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LeBron James reading memes
LeBron James partnered with the mobile game Royal Kingdom to create a commercial that makes fun of one of James’ viral moments.
James claims to be a big reader before games, which includes books like “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”.
LeBron James, who often incorporated reading a good book or two during his postseason runs of the past, posted a photo of himself cracking the spine to “The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley” while getting in a stationary bike workout Wednesday. Great read. pic.twitter.com/fJTHy8BC6O
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) August 20, 2020
(2012) LeBron James reading Jay-Z’s autobiography, “Decoded”, before an NBA Finals game. pic.twitter.com/wKQdN2Ts4J
— Timeless Sports (@timelesssports_) May 23, 2018
However, James has frequently been trolled by fans who believe he doesn’t read as much as he says. Those fans instead believe that James pretends to read for show but he hasn’t finished them in full. Evidence for this includes the fact that it often looks like he’s always on the same page in the books he’s shown looking at.
Although LeBron James has been known to love reading, fans have noticed that whenever he’s seen reading, it always seems to be the first few pages. pic.twitter.com/h7ZCXNrxvM
— EPMG.fiji (@EPMG_fiji) March 18, 2025
LeBron James Royal Kingdom commercial
Now, James has turned the tables on those fans by leaning into the trolls in his new commercial.
The ad features James claiming he’s read 23 books this year, but a gamer accuses him of lying and instead playing Royal Kingdom when he has his books open. The commercial, which is shot in a documentary style, includes this one gamer doing investigative journalism and coming up with secret footage to prove that James is lying about reading.
Today we launched our latest marketing campaign for Royal Kingdom and some of the world’s most famous celebrities came to play!
They say LeBron James is always reading but some things can’t stay hidden forever… đź‘‘ pic.twitter.com/cGEn1YJzxG
— Dream Games (@DreamGames) April 15, 2025
When James is shown in that footage, he is clearly seen swiping his fingers in the book like he would with a phone, and in some cases, he has the book upside down. The gamer even enlists James’ librarian for further proof of this conspiracy.
The commercial is a clever way for James to poke fun at his trolls, of which there are many, who are sure they have the upper hand in the viral meme.
