Lakers' LeBron James: 'If You Know Me I Ain't Paying the 5' for Twitter Verification

Despite being the NBA's richest player thanks to his salary and endorsement deals, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James does not intend on paying to keep his verified blue checkmark on Twitter.

King James tweeted Friday that he "ain't paying the 5" to remain verified in Twitter:

Per Brian X. Chen and Ryan Mac of the New York Times, a significant change is coming to Twitter starting Saturday, as "legacy" verified accounts will lose their blue checkmark unless the users pay $8 per month for Twitter Blue to retain it.

The verification change is the latest in a long line of alterations made to Twitter since it was purchased by Elon Musk in October.

Kyle Kuzma of the Washington Wizards, who was previously LeBron's teammate with the Lakers, got a laugh out of LeBron's tweet regarding Twitter verification, presumably due to the James' well-documented frugality:

Kevin Love, who spent four seasons as LeBron's teammate with the Cleveland Cavaliers, called James the most frugal player he knows last year, noting that LeBron will wait for wifi rather than using data on his phone:

James' former Miami Heat teammate, Dwyane Wade, told a similar story back in 2016 about James refusing to use his data.

Similarly, James' then-Lakers teammates Alex Caruso and Jared Dudley clowned LeBron for being "the cheapest guy in the NBA" in 2020, saying that he often avoided picking up restaurant tabs.

James has been among the NBA's best and most well-compensated players throughout his 20-year NBA career, and Forbes reported last year that he officially became a billionaire.

While LeBron can undoubtedly afford $8 per month, he is sticking to his principles, and it looks like his tweets soon won't be accompanied by a blue checkmark any longer.