A clip of LeBron James holding back laughter as Macy Gray performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Sunday's 2022 NBA All-Star Game has gone viral.
Ahead of the much-anticipated basketball game, which saw James' Team LeBron defeat Kevin Durant's Team Durant 163-160, "I Try" singer Gray was brought out to open proceedings with rousing rendition of the National Anthem.
As the Grammy winner delivered the patriotic anthem with her signature soulful raspy vocals on the court of Cleveland, Ohio's Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, video cameras caught a shot of James struggling to conceal his laughter.
Though it wasn't made clear what had amused the acclaimed sportsman, who was seen standing beside teammate Steph Curry, a video of the moment has since gone viral on social media.
A tweet shared by Complex's sports arm soon after the performance read: "LeBron trying to stop himself from laughing," alongside a skull emoji.
The nine-second video has been viewed more than 1.8 million times since it was uploaded on the platform.
A full video of the performance, which has been shared on YouTube and viewed more than 330,000 times, also showed actor Bill Murray with a blank expression on his face.
Whatever made James laugh ahead of his time on the court, Gray appeared to garner much praise on social media, with users on Twitter and appearing to be largely united in the sentiment that she had done an "awesome job."
The praise will likely prove reassuring for Ohio native Gray, who admitted in a video posted on Instagram hours before her performance that she was "nervous as f***."
"Hey y'all, wish me luck tonight," she said in the clip. "I'm singing the anthem at the basketball All-Star game."
"Anyway, I'm nervous AF," she went on. "Inside, I'm like, 'F***,' because, you know, it's a lot of words. So the biggest fear is that you'll mess up. And then there's no chorus."
LeBron trying to stop himself from laughing 💀 pic.twitter.com/9OjVSXTNDY
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) February 21, 2022
Gray then went on to say that she was perplexed by the inclusion of the word "rampart" in the lyrics of "The Star-Spangled Banner."
She said: "Like, who does that? You know, like you're writing and you say, 'Oh I need a lyric right here. Let me me think... Hmmm... I've got it, rampart.'
"And as many times as I've sung that song I never even bothered to look up what a rampart was. I finally looked it up. It means... it's a protective barrier. So I'm like, OK, who puts protective barrier words in a song.
"But I don't know, it's 2022, there's been songs about killing motherf****** and doing molly and booty and d***. So I guess at this point f*** it. Rampart, right? Who cares?"
As she asked her fans to wish her luck, the star ended her video by admitting: "I'm nervous as f***. I can't even lie."
Following her performance, Gray shared a post showing that she was the #1 trending topic on Twitter. She also shared video footage of herself getting a host of basketball stars, including sporting legend Michael Jordan, to sign her basketball.
Gray's performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" comes several months after she had urged the abandonment of the "dated, divisive" U.S. flag following the U.S. Capitol riot, as she offered her redesigned alternative to Old Glory.
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