'I'm not doing it' - LeBron James refuses to pay for service which everyone uses despite being NBA's first active billionaire

LeBron James may be one of the richest sports stars in the world but there is one thing that the four-time NBA champion refuses to pay for.

James is the first active NBA player to become a billionaire thanks to his on-court earnings, as well as various endorsement deals and smart investments over the years.

However, despite his wealth and reported $1.4billion net worth, James does have limits when it comes to splashing the cash.

While it is easy for James to get caught up in the lavish lifestyle and struggle to remain grounded, he does penny-pinch when it comes to data roaming.

Dwyane Wade, who played with James at Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers, did not hesitate in the slightest in naming him as "the cheapest" player he has crossed paths with.

He jumped in and said, "Oh LeBron" before the question had been asked by Kelly Ripa during a segment with Wade and his wife Gabrielle Union.

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The assumption from Ripa was that James is a bad tipper but it was actually because "he does not mess with data roaming" according to Union.

The revelation saw another former teammate in Kevin Love also weigh in and talk about James' ban on paying for data roaming. Speaking back in 2022 on 'Take It There with Taylor Rooks', he explained: "I’ve seen it a million times in Toronto. They talk about wealth and all that. It’s the things you don’t see. For him, if we’re in Toronto, that drive from the airport and going through customs to then getting to our hotel, there’s no data used at all.

“He’s waiting for the Wi-Fi all the time. Then that drive from the hotel to the arena, Air Canada, also waits to get to the arena Wi-Fi."

“What’s the finance great saying. ‘A small leak can sink a great ship.’ I can appreciate it. It’s not like I’m mad at him. But c’mon bro. It’s just roaming”.

By this point, James himself had already confirmed that he will always wait for WiFi instead of paying for data roaming and even spoke about still listening to music with ads because of his stubbornness.

"No, I'm not doing that," James said, in an interview with ESPN's Rachel Nichols.

"I'm not turning on data roaming, I'm not buying no apps, I still got Pandora with commercials. I'll be listening to some great music at home and then a commercial says, 'You want to win three tickets to the Cavs game to meet LeBron, D-Wade and Kevin Love'."

Nichols reminded James that he's done quite well financially when she asked, "You know you're rich, right?" but he quickly told her, "I'm not paying for it!".

LeBron James' Philadelphia 76ers salary after shock NBA switch

James is preparing for his 24th season in the NBA and will do so representing the Philadelphia 76ers after signing a two-year deal.

James picked the 'Sixers' over a number of leading NBA franchises as he looks to win a fifth NBA championship.

But the 41-year-old has shown that money is not his main motivation as he has taken quite the wage cut. James earned $52.6million in his final season with the Los Angeles Lakers but he will only earn $3.9 million per year in his new environment as his current arrangement is a veterans minimum deal.