For months, the tension between Drake and LeBron James lived mostly in the subtext, an Instagram unfollow here, a cryptic lyric there. That ambiguity appears to be over. On a new track called Make Them Remember, released as part of a collaboration with Iceman, Drake delivers what sounds unmistakably like a direct address to his former friend, accusing him of selective memory and a pattern of abandoning people when it suits him.
The verse takes aim at someone Drake describes as a person who built his career on switching allegiances, a line that landed immediately with listeners who have been tracking the slow deterioration of the two men’s friendship. Drake also references the number 23, LeBron’s jersey number, telling people to stop asking him about the situation while making clear he considers the breach of loyalty personal and real.
Where it started
The moment most fans point to as the breaking point came in June 2024 at a Juneteenth concert in Los Angeles headlined by Kendrick Lamar. The event brought out a who’s who of West Coast artists and celebrities, and LeBron was among those in attendance. During the show, Lamar performed his Drake diss track Not Like Us multiple times, and footage of LeBron visibly enjoying the performance circulated widely. Shortly after, Drake unfollowed LeBron on Instagram, a move that was small in gesture but loud in implication.
The two had previously been close, the kind of high-profile friendship between a rapper and an athlete that seems natural given their overlapping worlds of celebrity, brand partnerships, and cultural influence. That closeness made LeBron’s presence at the concert feel, to Drake’s supporters at least, like a deliberate statement.
A pattern of subtle jabs
Make Them Remember is not the first time Drake has appeared to reference LeBron since the fallout. A 2025 freestyle drew attention for lyrics that seemed to describe a broken brotherhood with someone he once considered family, someone he had exchanged watches with and trusted deeply. Many listeners connected those lines to LeBron, though nothing was confirmed at the time.
Drake also adjusted a lyric during a concert performance last year, reworking a line from his track Nonstop to include a pointed reference that distanced LeBron from the original meaning of the verse. Again, the move was subtle enough to be deniable but specific enough to register.
LeBron keeps it gracious
LeBron has not matched Drake’s energy publicly. In a sit-down interview last September, he was asked directly about the altered concert lyric and responded with characteristic composure, saying he would always wish Drake well and that his feelings toward him remained warm. He declined to acknowledge any ongoing conflict or assign blame.
That response, measured and generous on the surface, left the door open to multiple interpretations. Some saw it as genuine goodwill from someone who does not want public drama. Others read it as the kind of diplomatic non-answer that allows a person to avoid accountability without actually resolving anything.
What the verse signals
What makes Make Them Remember notable is not just the content but the decision to put it on record at all. Drake has a history of addressing conflicts through his music, but there is something particularly deliberate about naming a jersey number in a verse and daring listeners to connect the dots. It removes the plausible deniability that characterized his earlier references and signals that whatever patience he had for keeping things quiet has run out.
Whether LeBron responds, in words or otherwise, remains to be seen. For now, Drake has made his version of events part of the public record, and the chapter between these two once close figures appears to have closed on unfriendly terms.
