LeBron James has been at the center of myriad surreal memes over the past several months, such as the bizarre You Are My Sunshine edits, the hyperbolic glazing poem copypasta, and the straight-up nonsensical "Lebron James reportedly…" headlines.

Recently on Instagram, a seemingly new wave of LeBron memes is rapidly picking up views. In these videos, James explains how he was involved in some of history's most infamous moments.

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A post shared by He Didn't Say This (@hedidntsaythis)

This seemingly new branch of LeBron memes is actually part of a years-old meme that preceded the recent wave of LeBron-posting. Furthermore, unlike some of the recent memes, these wild videos are actually inspired by the actions of James. Here's the history of "LeBron James lying," one of the most consistently funny memes related to the basketball star.

Why Are There So Many Memes Of LeBron James Lying?

Put simply, LeBron James has been caught saying some things that don't sound all that true. To be clear, these are never huge, George Santos-esque lies, but a series of mildly self-aggrandizing statements that sound like LeBron made them up. For example, in 2016, he was in a press conference where he said he had seen The Godfather Part II six times yet could not recall a line from the movie.

The Godfather lie is clearly the biggest lie LeBron James or any other athlete has ever said @Skinny_Unscrptd. LeBron had that press video when he was questioned on it wiped away from youtube and every other platform. Except for Reddit. https://t.co/gtwVmTlwkp pic.twitter.com/4kfMwy4eGj

— TJ (@TraMurr) June 9, 2021

He also once claimed to have a gut feeling that Kobe Bryant would score 70 points before a game in which Kobe Bryant did indeed score 70.

Nah he’s too shameless wid itt 😭😭pic.twitter.com/aGhf466oHS

— Sully (Mo Kudus stan account) 🇺🇬 (@Yalsully) August 5, 2021

After the rapper Takeoff of Migos died, LeBron claimed that he knew the "Bad and Boujee" group would be big well before they got popular.

"I was listening to those guys my first year with the Heat in 2010. You can ask any one of my teammates back then, they had no idea who the Migos was… I was like 'I'm telling you these guys are next.'"LeBron paying homage to Takeoff 🙏🏾(via @michaelcorvoNBA) pic.twitter.com/UuQHTb1wey

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 7, 2022

There's no way to outright prove any of these statements by LeBron are lies, but that almost makes them more suspicious, as it seems James continuously claims he once predicted future events well after they happened.

How Has LeBron 'Lying' Be Memed?

LeBron lying has been memed basically how one might expect: by taking a lie, just slightly further out beyond the bounds of believability than things LeBron has actually said, and having LeBron say it.

The video examples mentioned at the beginning of this article come from @hedidntsaythis, which has only been posting for two weeks yet already has 50,000 followers. It's unknown if the voice used is an impression or AI-generated, but on TikTok, a similar meme using AI spread roughly a year ago.

@aivoicess LeBron just needs to give up the act atp 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ #lebronjames #ai #voice #parody #fy #fyp #viral #lebron #funny ♬ original sound – Ai Voices

@keyandpeelevids When will LECAP be stopped😪😪👎🏾 #ai #howtoai #lebronjamesai #lebronai #memeai #funnyai #cap #capalot ♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys – Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey

In most of the memes, LeBron is explaining how he was able to predict a significant historical event before it happened, such as the Challenger explosion or the Kennedy assassination, but despite his divinity, he was not listened to, resulting in disaster.

The meme may have been the start of the recent wave of completely surreal LeBron memes that are currently dominating social media, and in this case, LeBron and his possible tall tales are the direct inspiration.

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For the full history of LeBron lying, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.