Drake is known for his various tattoos of icons in sports, music, and culture, but his recent addition to the art that canvases his body is making headlines for escalating his beef with LeBron James. The rapper and NBA icon have been at odds since Drake's 2024 beef with Kendrick Lamar. Now, a reconciliation looks to be further away than ever.
A photo of the “God's Plan” rapper performing at the 2025 Wireless Festival went viral on Saturday (July 12) when his arm was noticeably missing a tattoo. Originally, above Drake's left bicep was a LeBron jersey. Drake tattooed LeBron's Irish 23 jersey, which referenced the now-Lakers icon's high school basketball days at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio.
It was replaced with the Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's No. 2 Thunder jersey. The Thunder just won their first NBA Championship in the history of their franchise last month against the Indiana Pacers. Shai is also a fellow Canadian and was named both the NBA Finals MVP and the NBA regular season MVP. He also won the scoring title this year. He's the first NBA star to win all three in the same year since Michael Jordan. Shai also just signed a record-setting 4-year, $285 million contract extension with the Thunder, making him one of the highest-earning NBA players.
Drake has been hinting at tension between himself and LeBron since last year through his lyrics.
In January, Drake released “Fighting Irish” freestyle where he reminisced about his friendship with the Lakers star.
“Remember we traded watches, I gave you the Arabic dial, and you gave me the numbered edition,” Drake rapped.
The Grammy-winning rapper took offense to LeBron supporting Kendrick by reciting his lyrics to “Man in the Garden” and showing up at the Los Angeles native's Pop Out event on Juneteenth last year.
“I saw bro at the Pop Out with them but been d—k riding gang since Headlines [a song by Drake]. You switched on the guys and supported a hater [Lamar],” Drake rapped in his recent release of “What Did I Miss?” The line can also refer to DeMar DeRozan and The Weeknd who were also former friends to Drake and attended the Pop Out.
“What Did I Miss? is the lead up to Drake's upcoming solo album, Iceman, which at this time does not have an official release date. The Boy will be busy in the next few weeks as he will be kicking off his European tour with PartyNextDoor on their $ome $pecial $hows 4 U starting on July 20. The tour is in support of the duo's joint album, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, that was released on Valentine's Day. The last time Drake was on tour was back in February for his overseas “Anita Max Win” tour in Australia and New Zealand but he cut it short citing a scheduling conflict.
However, fans may be able to see him live in his home city for his OVO Fest which was announced earlier this year but an exact date has not been released at this time. During the time of the announcement, it was slated to return this summer. The OVO Fest has been on a hiatus since 2022.
After the release of “What Did I Miss?” the rapper went on live stream teasing new music so he is ready for a comeback sooner rather than later.
