LeBron James Goes Viral As Cameras Catch Him Eating During Lakers' Pat Riley Tribute

Back in 2014, LeBron James and Pat Riley parted ways on less-than-amicable terms. After James steered the Miami Heat to four straight Finals appearances and two championship runs, he decided to come back to Cleveland, triggering a period of decline for the squad led by team president Riley.

12 years later, James and Riley found themselves under one roof once again. This past Sunday at Crypto.com Arena, the Lakers organization paid tribute to Riley, who led the team to five NBA titles in the 80s and was now having a statue unveiled in his honor. 

As Riley’s star player Magic Johnson spoke about the legacy of the legendary coach and executive, cameras happened to catch James, who was sitting on the sidelines.

Was James applauding? Smiling appreciatively? Putting up a respectful thumbs up? None of the above. Instead, the King was…eating.

Naturally, netizens had a blast as they commented on this candid camera shot. “Is he eating them damn cookies?!? He looked at the camera and ate the cookies bruh I’m crying,” one netizen tweeted.

As mundane as it sounds, cookies play a part in the history between James and Riley. During his infamous appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” last year, the Lakers superstar claimed that Riley had ordered the removal of chocolate chip cookies from the Heat team plane during James’ stint in South Beach. The catch: Those cookies happened to be a favorite of LBJ.

Beyond mere snack items, however, Riley has gone on record as stating that he felt a certain way when James left for Cleveland. “I had two to three days of tremendous anger,” Riley was quoted as saying in the 2018 book “The Soul of Basketball.” The Heat president added, “I was absolutely livid, which I expressed to myself and my closest friends.”

In subsequent interviews, Riley expressed his regret that James left the Heat, as he believes that LBJ would have helped create a dynasty in Miami. But, as bizarre as that candid camera moment was, another viral clip does indicate that Riley and James are now on better terms.

Someday, James will have his own statue erected somewhere, whether that’s Los Angeles, Cleveland, or Miami. For now, he seems happy that Riley got his.