NBA star LeBron James said Monday that he will not attend the Met Gala later in the evening—despite being its honorary chair.
The shock announcement comes days after he was bounced out of the NBA playoffs in the first round, which included him spraining his MCL—a band of tissue that runs along the inner side of the knee—when his team, the Los Angeles Lakers, lost their playoff game five on Wednesday.
“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,’ he posted on X.
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It was not immediately clear why the injury would preclude his presence, or alternatively, why his decision not to come had not been announced immediately after the injury. ESPN reported the sprain was discovered in an MRI on Thursday and was classified as “grade 2,” meaning James will likely need crutches to get around comfortably in the coming weeks.
James was subbed out of Wednesday’s game after the injury but returned to play in the final minutes. Had the Lakers not been eliminated, the injury was reportedly severe enough that James would have been sidelined for the remainder of the playoffs regardless.
James, 40, said his wife, Savannah James, will still attend the event. She posted a preview of her outfit to Instagram on Sunday evening.
“My beautiful powerful Queen will be there holding the castle down as she always has done!” he wrote.
His sudden absence will raise eyebrows and questions over the star-drawing power of the Gala, overseen by Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, 75. For years its red carpet at the Metropolitan Musem of Art in Manhattan was more of a draw even than the Oscars but this year in particular it appears to be struggling to draw the biggest names.
This year’s theme is Black dandy culture, with the biggest remaining names being Pharrell Williams; who is now Louis Vuitton’s men’s creative director; Lewis Hamilton, the British Formula 1 driver; Colman Domingo, the actor; and A$AP Rocky the rapper, whose wife Rhianna is likely to be the biggest celebrity on the red carpet.
