Lebron James confirms he will miss 2025 Met Gala due to knee injury
Lebron James, honorary co-chair of the 2025 Met Gala, has announced he will miss one of fashion's biggest nights due to a knee injury.
The NBA All-Star posted on X on Monday morning; he'd be missing the event after an injury he sustained at the end of the basketball season. It is unclear when he suffered the injury.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 30: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers during a 103-96 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game Five of the Western Conference First Round NBA Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena on April 30, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.
Harry How / Getty Images
"Unfortunately, because of my knee injury I sustained at the end of the season I won't be able to attend the Met Gala in NY tonight as so many people have been asking and congratulating me on! Hate to miss an historical event!" his post said.
James also wrote that his wife, Savannah, will still be attending the event.
The Lakers were recently eliminated from the first round of the NBA playoffs after losing their series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
This year's Met Gala theme is "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," and the dress code is "Tailored for You." The inspiration for the theme comes from Monica L. Miller's 2009 book, "Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity."
The theme is meant to explore Black style through the history of dandyism.
"We're going to see lots of suits, I think in all shapes, sizes, colors," said Complex Editor-in-Chief Aria Hughes, CBS News reported. "I think designers are going to play in different ways, and then hopefully lay in some storytelling. I hope to see some archival pieces from Black designers, like a Patrick Kelly or a Willi Smith. So I'm really hoping that people have fun with it."
Lewis Hamilton, Colman Domingo, Pharrell Williams, A$AP Rocky and Vogue editor Anna Wintour will be co-chairing this year's event.
The event will be streamed on the official 2025 Met Gala livestream.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
31 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Shaq Rips NBA For Being 'Soft' Ahead of Pacers vs Thunder Finals
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The NBA is gearing up for the start of the 2025 NBA Finals, with many fans excited for the matchup. The Oklahoma City Thunder will be taking on the Indiana Pacers, offering a different feeling to the NBA Finals for the first time in years. More NBA news: Thunder vs Pacers NBA Finals Game 1 Preview: Biggest Questions, Start Time, Prediction But the criticism that has come toward the NBA in recent months is still around. The league experienced ratings issues all season, with many pointing to the heavy increase in 3-point shot attempts. Well, once again, NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal has gone after the league. O'Neal has been critical of the changes in the NBA, but went after the league again, calling it soft. "The league is getting soft, the game is getting soft and it's going to take a couple of people to bring it back," O'Neal said during a recent appearance on the "New Heights" podcast. O'Neal has pointed to the increase in 3-point shooting, especially coming from big men in the league. The former center was dominant in the paint during his time in the league, and has been outspoken on this new era of players. "Like, I hate big guys shooting (3-pointers). Victor Wembanyama is a great player, but I would love to just see him dominate so much that people start complaining, and they change the rules like when I did. I could shoot, but I'm not going to shoot a (3-pointer)," O'Neal said. "Why would I shoot a (3-pointer) when I could put your little a-- in the basket and dunk on you and put these balls in your face." NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 25: Shaquille O'Neal celebrates the launch of 'Shaq-A-Licious XL Gummies' at Hershey's Times Square on September 25, 2024 in New York City. O'Neal was disrespected by Fat Joe. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 25: Shaquille O'Neal celebrates the launch of 'Shaq-A-Licious XL Gummies' at Hershey's Times Square on September 25, 2024 in New York City. O'Neal was disrespected by Fat Joe. Photo byO'Neal isn't the only former player to express concerns with how the league has gone. But he is one of the few who has a large enough platform to be heard on a consistent basis. Many former players believe that the NBA lacks physicality in today's era, with players being allowed to foul-bait during games. But in reality, each era of the NBA has been different throughout the years in how the game is played. The NBA has been tinkering with different changes across the board to drive ratings up, and they are hopeful that the Finals will help. For the seventh straight season, the NBA will name a new champion, showing that parity is very much alive in the league. More NBA news: Jason Kidd Could Leave Mavericks For Sought-After HC Opening: Report Dan Hurley Makes Position Clear as Knicks Begin Coaching Search LeBron James' 'Mind the Game' Podcast Takes Massive Shot at Brian Windhorst For more on Pacers, Thunder, and general NBA news, head on over to Newsweek Sports.
Newsweek
31 minutes ago
- Newsweek
DJ Augustin Set to Join Rockets in Surprise Role
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Former NBA star guard and lottery pick D.J. Augustin has taken on a new role with the Houston Rockets. More NBA news: Kevin Durant Trade Speculation Will Reportedly Get Aggressive in Coming Weeks The former Texas Longhorn and No. 9 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft is reportedly joining the Rockets in the front office. Kelly Iko of The Athletic shared the news via X. Former NBA guard D.J. Augustin is joining the Houston Rockets in a front office capacity, sources tell @TheAthletic. The 37-year-old, who played for Houston in 2021, spent 14 seasons in the NBA before retiring in 2024. — Kelly Iko (@KellyIko) June 5, 2025 : D.J. Augustin #12 of the Milwaukee Bucks is defended by Ricky Rubio #9 of the Minnesota Timberwolves during the second half of a game at Fiserv Forum on February 23, 2021 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.... : D.J. Augustin #12 of the Milwaukee Bucks is defended by Ricky Rubio #9 of the Minnesota Timberwolves during the second half of a game at Fiserv Forum on February 23, 2021 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. More Photo by"Former NBA guard D.J. Augustin is joining the Houston Rockets in a front office capacity, sources tell @TheAthletic. The 37-year-old, who played for Houston in 2021, spent 14 seasons in the NBA before retiring in 2024," wrote Iko. Augustin announced his retirement a little after the start of the 2024-25 season. It's unclear what his role with the Rockets will be, but he'll be providing some expertise, regardless of his position. The 37-year-old played 14 NBA seasons with the Charlotte Bobcats, Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, Milwaukee Bucks, Houston Rockets, and the Los Angeles Lakers. A New Orleans native, Augustin was selected by the Charlotte Hornets with the ninth overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft after a standout career at the University of Texas, where he earned First-Team All-Big 12 honors that same year. Charlotte viewed him as their point guard of the future, and he showed promise right away—dropping 12 points and dishing out two assists in 25 minutes during his NBA debut. He went on to average 11.8 points and 3.5 assists per game in his rookie campaign. Augustin averaged 9.5 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game over 976 games played. The Rockets are coming off their best season since the 2019-20 season. Houston earned the No. 2 seed in the loaded Western Conference with a young group as its core. Led by Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, and Fred VanVleet, the Rockets are sure to come back stronger than ever next season. Head coach Ime Udoka has built a culture in Houston that players and fans can hang their hat on. In Augustin's basketball career, he has earned an NBA All-Rookie Second Team, won the Bob Cousy Award, and been named Consensus First-Team All-American and First-Team All-Big 12. More NBA news: Suns to Hire Cavaliers Assistant as Franchise's Next Head Coach Former NBA All-Star Believes Thunder Resemble Prime Warriors Team Dan Hurley Makes Position Clear as Knicks Begin Coaching Search LeBron James' 'Mind the Game' Podcast Takes Massive Shot at Brian Windhorst Knicks Coaching Search Heats Up as Top Candidates Are Revealed For more on the Rockets and general NBA news, head on over to Newsweek Sports.
Forbes
31 minutes ago
- Forbes
NBA Finals: Look Beyond TV Ratings For Keys To Success
The National Basketball Association Finals have arrived, and you know what that means for the media coverage – a lot of headlines about TV ratings. Embittered New York Knicks fans are already preparing their collective 'I told you so' with the likelihood of historically low ratings between two small TV market teams, the Oklahoma City Thunder (47th ranked market) and the Indiana Pacers (from the 25th ranked market and the team that defeated the Knicks). But for the NBA, its business partners and even for the folks at ABC and ESPN who are broadcasting the Finals, focusing so heavily on TV ratings is just so 1990s. There is a much more complex tableaux of media measurement metrics that are ultimately far more relevant to business success and failure here. Yes, the NBA Finals TV ratings will likely be low by any historical standard. In addition to the presence of small-market teams, the Finals matchup lacks marquee franchise names like the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics. And there is no larger-than-life superstar like LeBron James or Michael Jordan, but how many of those are there? It's true that NBA ratings have been falling for years. Last year's NBA Finals between the Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks averaged 11.3 million viewers, down 27% from 2014 (LeBron James was playing in those), and down 37% from 2004 (with the Lakers and Kobe Bryant). The ratings for the NBA playoffs are actually slightly up this year compared to a year ago. But more broadly, the entire TV ratings universe has fallen 54% in the last 10 years. 'Linear TV' – broadcast and cable – now accounts for less than 50% of all the video viewing in the U.S. Is any of this breaking news anymore? Can we broaden our lens a bit in analyzing success and failure? Most importantly for the solidity of the NBA's future as well as its present is the new media rights deal it announced last July which is going into effect next season. The NBA closed an 11-year, $76 billion agreement for national TV and streaming distribution with Disney (ESPN and ABC), NBCUniversal (including Peacock) and Amazon. That's a dollar amount three times larger than the deal the NBA signed with Turner Networks (now part of Warner Bros. Discovery) and Disney nine years ago. None of the new and returning media partners were unaware of the ratings environment when they signed on the dotted line. As the NBA's SVP for Partnerships, Lauren Sullivan, told me in the midst of busy Finals prep, the new deal will bring 40% more nationally televised games during the regular season, including weekly national prime time broadcasts on NBC on Tuesday and Sunday nights, as well as a massive increase in nationally streamed games via Peacock and Amazon. There's little or no ability to predict the future path of ratings, but in a world of future ratings blindness, the one-eyed live sports broadcast remains King. This enhanced distribution helps drive awareness and fan engagement throughout the year, not just during the Finals. Sullivan emphasized throughout the course of our discussion of the NBA Finals that the league's approach to marketing demands '365-day planning and storytelling [with an] Partnerships have to work for all. NBA team marketing sponsorship revenues topped $1.6 billion last year, and marketers and media partners get access to the breadth of the NBA fan base especially its highly engaged younger audiences, which aren't easy to reach anymore on linear TV broadcasts. Marketers with ongoing NBA partnerships, including through the Finals, include Puma, Michelob Ultra and YouTube TV. The metrics around social media fan engagement are increasingly critical, as both Sullivan as well as the NBA's SVP for Digital and Social Content Bob Carney pointed out to me. According to Carney, the NBA works with 'an unbelievably rich community' comprised of the league, broadcast partners like ESPN, digital and social media partners such as Bleacher Report and House of Highlights, individual media talent and a huge creator community that the NBA has cultivated over the course of the last decade. As Carney pointed out, the NBA social content strategy leans heavily into its Instagram account (with its 90 million followers), and Sullivan proudly trumpeted the league's 'takeover' of Instagram's own Instagram account (that's a thing) which has over 700 million followers. Video highlights are a huge part of the NBA's content strategy given that social media algorithms are driven by the amount of time spent with videos, and the NBA is constantly looking to create stories with its players, teams and marketing partners that will drive extended video viewing. One of the immediate winners in the NBA Finals marketing sweepstakes is Converse which has hit the jackpot with its celebrity endorser, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ('SGA'), the NBA's new MVP and the star of the Finals-playing Thunder, a deal in play long before the Finals. In case you haven't heard much of him, SGA leads all NBA players in social media engagement in these playoffs with 864 million views. You can add in fellow shoe brand Puma (leaning into the now-laughable designation of Pacers' star Tyrese Haliburton as 'overrated" by his fellow players). Halliburton, that 'overrated' guy, is third in social media playoff views with 679 million. Needless to say, partnerships with these stars aren't going to live or die on TV ratings. Yeah, but it's still two small market teams playing in the Finals, right? Carney almost laughed at the notion that young audiences, especially internationally, particularly care about the market size of the NBA Finalists. The Finals will be distributed in 214 countries and territories in 60 languages, with 'NBA House' live fan events in Brazil, Canada, Mexico and India, and official viewing parties in China, Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines. It's all part of the league's long-term strategy of expanding its global footprint. For those still fixated on the U.S. linear TV ratings, you need to get your eye on the bouncing ball.
