LeBron James rapped Kendrick Lamar’s verse from Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” during the Los Angeles Lakers’ pregame warmups on March 31. Three months and three Drake diss tracks later, James is still Team Kendrick.
On Wednesday, July 17, Lamar’s “Not Like Us” played while James and Steph Curry warmed up before USA Basketball’s exhibition game against Serbia ahead of this month’s 2024 Paris Olympics. In a video circulated by Complex on X (formerly Twitter), Curry can be seen expressing semi-joking, semi-serious annoyance to hear Lamar’s ubiquitous Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper yet again. “It’s not the only song in America,” Curry said, smiling and laughing. James shrugged and appeared to say, “As much as I love it, we’ve got to get something else.”
Steph Curry is tired of listening to Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”
“It’s not the only song in America.”pic.twitter.com/vy6vMacj2a
— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) July 17, 2024
Lamar would probably love to release another Drake diss track. The only surer bet than USA Basketball winning Olympic gold might be Lamar having several Drake diss tracks in the vault, ready for deployment at any given moment. But for now, “Not Like Us” is the soundtrack to Lamar’s victory lap.
Curry and James are far from the first athletes to weigh in, as DeMar DeRozan appeared in the “Not Like Us” video, and Serena Williams incorporated the song into her ESPYs opening monologue. The longevity of “Not Like Us” has been pretty incredible, but it seems at least some players are a bit tired of hearing it in every arena.