LeBron James knows a thing or two about GOATs, as some consider him to be the best basketball player of all time. “The King” named Jay-Z the greatest rapper of all time only hours before the Brooklyn native celebrated his 54th birthday.

A few hours before the clock struck midnight on Sunday, James uploaded a photograph of Jay-Z in a tweet. On December 4, 1969, the Grammy Award-winning rapper was born and went on to become one of the finest, if not the greatest, rappers in music history.

The LA Lakers star paid tribute to Jay-Z with a goat emoji and a couple of “rapping” heads as the caption.

For those who are unaware, LeBron James and Jay-Z were pals before the basketball legend joined the NBA. A close buddy, Williams Wesley, better known as World Wide Wes, introduced James to Jay-Z a year before he was drafted in 2003.

Wesley first met James when he was 15 years old, in 1999. In 2002, he introduced him to Jay-Z, the Kid from Akron’s idol, and the two became fast friends.

When James became a free agent in 2010, there were speculations that Jay-Z was attempting to persuade his pal to play in New York. It never happened, as the eventual four-time NBA champion joined with the Miami Heat to join friends Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

LeBron explained what it’s like to hear his name on Jay-Z’s songs on “The Late Late Show with James Corden” in 2017.

“It’s always surprising in terms of radio or satellite radio or whatever I’m listening to and I hear my name,” he added.

“It’s like, ‘Rewind!’ Let’s listen to what they’re saying.’ It’s both humbling and cool. It’s humbling every time Jay-Z mentions my name. He’s my big brother, so he looks after me.”