LeBron James Gives Elon Musk's Twitter Blue Plan a Big Problem

Despite his billions, the NBA's all-time leading scorer LeBron James is a thrifty guy.

The Lakers star tweeted on Friday that he will not be upgrading to Elon Musk's paid Twitter Blue service before April 1, when he will lose the blue verification check mark that indicates his account is authentic, per CNBC.

With 52.5 million followers, James tweeted, "Welp guess my blue will be gone soon 'cause if you know me, I ain't paying the 5."

LeBron James may not care that Twitter Blue is $8 per month rather than $5 because he once called himself "the cheapest guy in the NBA."

The four-time NBA champion has made $431 million throughout his 20-year tenure, including $44.4 million this season, according to Spotrac. Since joining the league in 2003, Forbes estimates that he has made an additional $900 million before taxes from endorsements.

To get more people to switch to Twitter Blue, CEO Elon Musk revealed this month that the "legacy verified" checkmark would be removed on April 1. In the future, only Twitter Blue subscribers will appear in the "For You" suggestion tab on Twitter, and those who pay the $8 can participate in polls, according to Musk.

Elon Musk Twitter Blue Big Problem: Other Celebrities and Athletes Agree with LeBron James

Many other sports enthusiasts, celebrities, and athletes on Twitter agreed with James and pointed out that this seemed like a bad business move on Elon Musk's part.

Knowing these stars do not care about money is bad news for Musk. James and others like him do not bother to remain verified on Twitter because they either do not care or do not see its value, per Yahoo! Sports.

Among the sports stars who have subscribed is Mark Cuban, proprietor of the Dallas Mavericks. However, Cuban has yet to have much success with that strategy.

James may still have his marking after the purge on Saturday. Reports indicate that popular brands and public figures will keep their confirmed status even if they choose not to join Twitter Blue.

LeBron James Allegedly One of the 35 VIP Twitter Users

James was recently revealed to be one of 35 VIP Twitter users whose tweets were automatically promoted.

Twitter may want to promote James' messages, but LeBron James is not interested in compensating Twitter for the privilege.

At first, the promotion of Twitter Blue was not limited to people. Musk stated that businesses would be charged $1,000 per month to maintain their verification status on the platform, Insider noted.

Businesses protested this demand to the point that Musk eventually backed down, saying 10,000 of its most-watched organizations would retain their checkmarks without a monthly payment.

Considering that Twitter has already decided to abandon its plan to make businesses foot the bill for verification checks and that Elon Musk has repeatedly postponed the date on which legacy verification badges would be eliminated, it is conceivable that this weekend's deadline will accomplish very little.

However, as things currently stand, the new Twitter authentication system will go live Saturday.

This is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: LeBron James Refuses To Pay Elon Musk For Blue Checkmark On Twitter? - From Los Angeles Lakers Daily News