LeBron James Calls 2020 The Worst Year After Loss of Black Panther And Black Mamba

James mourned Chadwick Boseman's death after the Lakers won their first-round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday.

Before Game 5 of the Lakers' first-round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday, LeBron James crossed both of his arms in front of his chest as he knelt on one knee for the national anthem in honor of the "Wakanda Forever" salute from the movie Black Panther.

Actor Chadwick Boseman, who starred in Black Panther and 42, died this week after a four-year battle with colon cancer. He was 43. 

LeBron pays tribute to Chadwick Boseman 🙏 pic.twitter.com/CRIbU8BXWl

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 30, 2020

After the Lakers' 131-122 win, James talked about how influential Boseman was.

"Growing up as a Black kid, you had superheroes that you looked up to that weren’t Black," James said. "You had Batman, you had Superman. You had Spiderman and so on, and so on," James said. "For [director] Ryan Coogler and for that cast, for him himself to be able to make Black Panther, that, even though we knew it was like a fictional story, it actually felt real. It actually felt like we finally had our Black superhero and nobody could touch us. So, to lose that, it’s sad in our community. It’s sad in our community."

James said he spent a couple of days with Boseman. After his death, he posted a photo of them standing next to each other on Instagram and wrote: "Rest In Paradise King 👑! #TheHellWith2020 #FCancer."

James added that Boseman's loss was yet another huge hit, following the death of Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash Jan. 26. 

"To lose the Black Panther and the Black Mamba in the same year, we can all agree that 2020 is the s***iest year," he said. "In my 35 years, it’s not even a question."