Clip claiming to show LeBron James lamenting NBA loss, alluding to match-fixing is not genuine
The footage features visual material from a real press conference but has been altered using AI.
CLAIM
Footage appearing to be from a post-match press conference claims to show NBA star LeBron James making a number of statements about referees, his coach and teammates, match-fixing, and how a bug flew into his eye as he tried to take a shot.
BACKGROUND
The Los Angeles Lakers, for whom LeBron James plays, have been facing the Denver Nuggets all week in a series that forms part of the NBA Western Conference playoffs.
With three games played so far in the series, the Nuggets are clear ahead — having won all three.
On April 24 (U.S. time), a Facebook page posting under the name Brandon Churchill published a clip appearing to show LeBron James at a post-game press conference, with the caption: “Lebron after playing the Denver Nuggets”.
In the clip, the NBA star is seen making a number of critical comments about the referees in the game, his coach, his teammates, and seemingly alludes to having “paid off” staff in the replay centre but “I guess the cheque must have bounced”.
LeBron also apparently says “a bug flew into my eye just as I was about to shoot”. He says he is “sick to my stomach” and wonders how the Lakers lost the game.
The uploader describes themselves as a comedian and also calls themselves Bboycomedy.
METHOD
In order to check the veracity of the clip, our first step was to research the post-game interview with LeBron James in full.
A reverse image-search of his image pulled up information about what game the press conference took place at: Game 2 between the Denver Nuggets vs Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference playoffs, which took place on April 22 local.
The post-match interviews are published on the NBA’s own website. The four-minute video sees the athlete in the same setting and wearing the same clothes, but does not feature any of the comments allegedly made by LeBron James in the video shared on Facebook. In the interview, the basketball star does complain about his team’s loss and ends up walking out of the press conference before its end.
Other versions posted across social media and carried by news outlets, containing the entire or close to the entire four-minute interview, match with the version shown on the NBA website.
A comparative analysis of LeBron James’ body language suggests that short snippets of the real press conference were used to create the video.
A closer look at LeBron, as he speaks in the clip, reveals unnatural movements and inconsistencies in his mouth area and teeth as he speaks.
This suggests the mouth section is AI-generated, and laid on top of real visual footage from the press conference. As for the audio: while convincing, our analysis confirms that it too is altered and was most likely also made using AI.
RATING
The footage features visual material from a real press conference but has been altered using AI.
SOURCES
Facebook.com. (2024). Facebook. [online] Lebron after playing the Denver Nuggets🤣😂 [Accessed 27 Apr. 2024].
Nba.com. (2024). Postgame Interview: LeBron James 04-22-24. [online] [Accessed 27 Apr. 2024].
House of Highlights (2024). LeBron James talks Tough Game 2 Loss vs Nuggets, Postgame interview. YouTube. [Accessed 27 Apr. 2024].
BBC Sport. (2024). LeBron James: LA Lakers star walks out of NBA news conference. [online] [Accessed 27 Apr. 2024].