LeBron James Cried It Out While Watching the Saddest Episode of 'Fresh Prince'

Take a knee, team. It’s time for a moment of introspection.

We’re sharing this moment with LeBron James, who just finished an emotional revisiting of one of the most memorable episodes of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. 

Now, casual Fresh Prince fans remember the show as a ‘90s gag reel—an extended montage of Will Smith jerking his head and rocking outfits that inspired future generations of sorority tailgaters. At its bones, however, the show was about a kid with an absentee father adjusting to life in a strange town.

This glossed-over facet of Will’s character was finally addressed in Season 4’s “Papa’s Got a Brand New Excuse,” which James just finished watching Monday morning. The episode ends with Will realizing his biological father will never be there for him, which is exactly as sad as it sounds. In fact, LeBron grew up without his dad, so the episode likely hit home for him. 

James thought it was sad too, and he posted a four-part Instagram reminiscing on just how devastating and relevant this moment in sitcom history remains.

“I shed a tear til this day every time I see this episode. Every single time!” James wrote in his caption. “This hit home for me growing up and I couldn’t hold my tears in. Til this day they still coming out when this episode come on.”

Here’s the whole scene, for the sake of context and properly milking the tear ducts:

Nothing like a good Monday cry to flush the system, right?

I feel James on this one. For starters, it’s a nice reminder of his humanity, which doesn't make itself apparent in most of his social media communication. Secondly, this is sad, sad stuff. 

Smith’s broken delivery of “How come he don’t want me, man?” is the TV equivalent of the gunshot that ended Old Yeller. You need at least a minute to walk it off. 

Now that we’re all nice and glassy-eyed, here’s Will “The Thrill” and Carlton “Boogaloo Shrimp” dancing to “Apache.”

That’s better. Good work, team.

Dan is on Twitter, drying his eyes and listening to Tom Jones.