When LeBron James originally posted an image to his Instagram story in 2018 of himself shirtless near a pool with the caption “Smiling through it all! Can’t believe this is my life,” it’s safe to guess he had no idea it would become a viral enough reaction meme to help inspire a hit pop song in 2024, but according to rising star Gracie Abrams, that’s so true.
Abrams, who skyrocketed to prominence as the opener for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour this year, posted an Instagram story on Tuesday that is just the latest confirmation that one line in “That’s So True” — her first ever top-10 song on the Billboard Hot 100 charts — was inspired by a LeBron post so iconic that even his own son has reenacted it this summer.
Here’s what we know.
What lyric did LeBron James give Gracie Abrams the idea for?
Abrams begins “That’s So True” by crooning the following lines (emphasis mine):
I could go and read your mind
Think about your dumb face all the time
Living in your glass house, I’m outside, uh
Looking into big blue eyes
Did it just to hurt me, make me cry
Smiling through it all, yeah, that’s my life
Now, how is that related to LeBron?
Well, in February of 2018 James posted the aforementioned photo and caption of himself smiling and leaning his head back to laugh for dramatic effect in response to a Fox News host Laura Ingraham telling him to “Shut Up and Dribble.” Over the years since, though, it’s become a somewhat frequent reaction meme people use online when they can’t help but laugh at a crappy situation, which is apparently how Abrams herself originally became aware of the meme.
How do we know LeBron James inspired that Gracie Abrams lyric?
On Tuesday, Dec. 10, Abrams posted a video to her Instagram story with a lighter featuring bedazzled rhinestones on one side… and that image and caption from the now nearly 40-year-old NBA star on the other, leading yours truly to ask the only logical question:
As it turns out, the answer is yes! Abrams admitted as much when testing out a pre-release version of “That’s So True” on a crowd during her “Secret of Us” tour with her co-writer and best friend, Audrey Hobert, in June:
From that video:
Hobert: “We just list him as a cowriter, LeBron James. Oh my God, you love LeBron, from ‘Trainwreck’ … you loved him in that.”
Abrams: “Yeah… I liked that he did that. Also, but mostly Audrey and I would send that (meme) back and forth when we were really sad to each other, and then during COVID, I think it was my birthday?… She made me a huge blanket with that picture on it. Like the entirety of the blanket was just that photo… And his big smile.”
Hobert probably didn’t realize that she was literally about to be wrapping her friend in the intro to her biggest song so far when making said blanket, but hey, sometimes inspiration comes from an Instagram-caption-turned-meme when you least expect it.
But if all that still wasn’t enough to convince you of the lyrics’ origins, then consider that we also know Abrams, who was born and raised in Los Angeles, is at the very least a casual Lakers enthusiast based on her Instagram:
Does that matter here? Probably not. It was just worth putting on the record.
But anyway, if you’ve read this far, we here at SB Nation have a reward for you: The next time you’re arguing with your dad that LeBron is better than Michael Jordan, you can hit him with “did MJ ever have an Instagram story become such a viral reaction image that it helped inspire a Gracie Abrams song?” Chances are he’ll have no idea what that means, but if he’s silent in confusion, I think that means you win. You’re welcome.
