For more than two decades now, LeBron James has been the defining figure in the NBA.
As a rookie, James still had to compete with the likes of Kobe Bryant for the title of face of the league, but as his star continued to rise and Bryant moved towards retirement, James took strong hold of the title for the better part of the decade.
While one could argue that Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry or several other top tier players have made a momentarily run as the face of the league, it’s still largely been LeBron’s burden to carry.
But nothing lasts forever. In his 21st season and just days away from turning 39, James can’t have too many more seasons left to play in his career, leading to the question of who could potentially become the face of the league when he finally decides to hang it up.
Hip hop legend Lil Wayne says there’s a clear answer.
“To me, the obvious answer is Ja [Morant]," Wayne told Taylor Rooks in an interview via Bleacher Report. “Because the NBA is entertainment. What I mean by that, there was Michael Jordan, which was just like, God. You were always going to watch these Atlanta Hawk games just what Dominique, just to see if he’s going to get one of ‘em off.
“Ja’s teams are competitive when he’s there, when’s he’s doing his thing.”
Lil Wayne tells @TaylorRooks why Ja should be the face of the NBA after LeBron 👀 pic.twitter.com/Ne1ZJpckp4
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 22, 2023
Morant made his return to the NBA earlier this week after serving a 25-game suspension to start the season due to the Grizzlies star flaunting a firearm on Instagram multiple times over the last year.
In his first game back, Morant made a pretty good case for Wayne’s argument, finishing with 34 points, six rebounds, eight assists and the game-winning shot as the buzzer sounded.
