LeBron James keeps Twitter check mark after Elon Musk comps his Twitter Blue

April 20 is a meaningful day for many, but this year, it also marked Twitter's great purge of blue checks for legacy verified accounts.

That included many athletes, such as Patrick Mahomes, Cristiano Ronaldo and Tiger Woods, but not LeBron James, who still had a blue check next to his @KingJames account as of Thursday afternoon.

James keeping his verified badge surprised many, as the Los Angeles Lakers star very publicly announced on the same platform that he would never pay to keep the check. (Twitter Blue costs $8.)

You can still see the check on his account in this tweet:

Many Twitter users immediately jumped to the conclusion that James was simply lying, which has become a meme in the past, and actually ponied up for Twitter Blue with his tail between his legs.

The plot thickened, however, when bestselling author Stephen King tweeted he still had his check and appeared to be subscribed to Twitter Blue, despite never having done so himself. Rapper Ice-T, who similarly pledged to not pay for his check mark, also still had the symbol on his account.

When reached by The Verge, James' media adviser, Adam Mendelsohn, confirmed James had not paid for Twitter Blue, even though clicking on his check gave the message "This account is verified because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number."

An explanation arrived a couple of hours later, when Twitter owner Elon Musk confirmed he was personally covering the Twitter Blue upgrade for a few accounts, after The Verge reported a Twitter employee had emailed James to “extend a complimentary subscription to Twitter Blue for your account, @kingjames, on behalf of Elon Musk.”

Musk and Twitter deciding it was in their best interest to keep certain accounts verified always seemed like the most likely explanation, as it aligns with their goal in the first place.

Twitter wants its blue checks to remain the tenuous status symbol they were under previous leadership, just one that people pay for. But if people who already have status begin to reject the label as a sign of fealty to an internet-addicted billionaire, well, then the check becomes a symbol of another kind of status. Musk shouldn't want that, even if it means admitting to himself that many of his most famous users aren't interested in what he's selling.

Several other famous athletes still have their check marks as of Thursday, most notably Tom Brady, Mike Trout and Novak Djokovic, but it's not confirmed whether Musk covered those accounts or the athletes' social teams just paid for the check.

Anyway, James has much more significant things to worry about right now. And also Dillon Brooks.