What's The 'LeBron James Reportedly' Meme? The Image Macro Quote Card Meme Explained

"LeBron James Reportedly" has joined the list of many NBA quote cards that have gone viral on Twitter (X) and Reddit in the last few years. The professional NBA player has also recently featured in the super viral 'You Are My Sunshine' dits, Ervil LeBaron and the LeEvil James memes.

But how did this seemingly common social media quote card featuring a disappointed and embarrassed LeBron James turn into a popular image macro meme Here's everything you need to know.

Where Is The Line 'LeBron James Reportedly' Quote Card From?

The "LeBron James Reportedly" quote card first appeared on Reddit in September 2022, after an unknown user posted to Reddit, sharing an infographic that showed veteran NBA player LeBron James facepalming his head in disappointment with the quote "LeBron James reportedly downed during instakill" (shown below).

The quote references a Call of Duty Zombies mode ability in which the player can instantly kill enemies for 30 seconds. In short, the user wanted to express in the meme that even with the most advantageous ability in the game LeBron lost.

How Did 'LeBron James Reportedly' Became A Viral Image Macro Meme?

Although the "LeBron James Reportedly" meme was fairly popular on Reddit in early 2023, sparking a lot of quote variations often portraying James as a bad video game player, it was in April 2024 that the meme peaked in popularity. X user @iownfivewiis posted on April 8th, 2024, a version of the image macro with the quote "LeBron James reportedly forgot to delete the meta-inf folder," which is related to a Minecraft mod install.

What Are Some Notable Examples Of The 'LeBron James Reportedly' Quote Card Meme?

For the full history of "LeBron James Reportedly," be sure to check out Know Your Meme's entry for even more information.