LeBron James isn't playing in the 2024 NBA Finals. That might still feel unusual for him even after his teams have fallen short in five of the last six years.
James rattled off eight consecutive Finals appearances between his four years with the Heat and his second stint with the Cavaliers, making the month of June an annual showcase regardless of whether he won or lost.
While the Celtics and the Mavericks battle for the title this year, James is branching out with some new activities — including a surprise appearance on a Twitch stream with Kai Cenat and Druski.
Here's a look at how James ended up on the livestream with Cenat, Druski and actor Kevin Hart.
MORE: Fans mock ESPN's First Take segment on LeBron James
LeBron James-Kai Cenat livestream, explained
Any livestream featuring Cenat and Druski is going to be widely viewed. Add in Hart, and it only becomes more popular.
What are the odds of LeBron James showing up as well? This time, they were 100%.
Hart called James on FaceTime, getting the NBA icon to join the stream from afar and eliciting a hilarious reaction from Cenat. The 22-year-old streamer jumped up and down and couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the Lakers star on the screen.
In case there were any doubts, Hart showed his screen to the roughly 650,000 watching, and there was James' face, as clear as ever.
Naturally, the conversation between James and the trio quickly turned to basketball. When asked jokingly by Hart what time he's playing in the NBA Finals on Wednesday's Game 3, James said he would be playing in "Game 8."
"He's LeBron James! Of course he's in the Finals," Hart joked.
For a long stretch of James' career, that was true. The Lakers star dominated the Eastern Conference in the eight seasons before he switched coasts and went to Los Angeles. In that span, the NBA Finals felt like the LeBron James invitational.
While James doesn't have much familiarity with Cenat and Druski, he's a longtime friend of Hart. Hart was able to get James onto the livestream, but he's been unsuccessful in his efforts to convince the mega star to join the 76ers over the years. Time will tell if that changes as James prepares to hit free agency in the coming weeks.
Who is Kai Cenat?
Cenat is a popular Twitch streamer, with more than 10.5 million followers on the platform and 7.83 million subscribers on YouTube. He started out on YouTube but rose to fame even more quickly on Twitch, where his video game streams, most notably of "Grand Theft Auto Online," gained traction.
Cenat is one of the most popular streamers on the internet, and that fame translated to the real world when his promise of a PlayStation 5 giveaway in Times Square incited a riot in August 2023. Cenat was charged with first-degree rioting, inciting a riot and unlawful assembly, but the charges were dropped in May.
This may have been Cenat's first public interaction with James, but he has some familiarity with basketball. Cenat played in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game in February, though he saw limited minutes on Shannon Sharpe's team.
If nothing else, Cenat's most significant contribution to the internet might be the word "rizz," which was popularized via his streams.
MORE: Kendrick Perkins says Anthony Davis is best teammate LeBron James has had
Who is Druski?
Druski, born as Drew Desbordes, is a comedian and actor. His career began on Instagram, where he posted skits that gained attention. Druski's early skits resembled the type of videos that are popular on TikTok today, but he preceded TikTok's popularity.
While Cenat became popular by being himself, Druski gained followers by pretending to be everyone but himself. He played various characters in his earliest skits, and it paid off as his videos regularly went viral.
As Druski became more popular, he began to build more connections with celebrities and expand his comedy. Druski has close connections with rapper Jack Harlow and NFL wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., even starring in some of Harlow's music videos.
Druski's newest connection might be James, if only through Kevin Hart's phone screen.
Kai Cenat age and net worth
Cenat is just 22 years old, meaning he was just a year old when James was drafted in 2003. He's set to turn 23 in December.
The Twitch streamer's net worth is estimated to be about $14 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. It's been a rapid rise for Cenat, who took advantage of this era of video game streaming and built himself an empire.
While the popularity of live streaming might not last forever, Cenat has created a brand that certainly seems to be sustainable.
MORE: What's next for Lakers' coaching search after Dan Hurley rejection?
Druski age and net worth
Druski is 29 years old. He's set to turn 30 in September.
Druski was Cenat's current age when he first started to gain popularity on Instagram, but the pair both became millionaires well before the age of 30.
Forbes reported that Druski made $10 million in earnings in 2023 alone. That's a monumental shift for the creator, who told Forbes that he was "sitting in [his] mom's house, broke" when he was 23.
