How to create a round of golf with LeBron James?
You ask him if he wants to play a round of golf.
“I said, you know what, I’ll take a shot at it,” Robby Berger said, speaking to me on the last episode ours Golf stuff show. “I said, ‘Any chance you’d like to play, even if it’s only nine?’ He says, ‘Sure, let’s do it.’ So it really kind of came about through me and LeBron, as crazy as that is.”
This is the simplest version of what, a few years ago, would have been considered an incredibly unlikely crossover. James was not a golfer. Neither was Berger, for that matter. And YouTube Golf has only recently become its own universe.
There is more to the story. It helps your chances of golfing with James, of course, if James has quietly – or not so quietly – seen you golfing with your friends. Although James’ golf obsession is less than a year old, what he lacks in experience he makes up for in enthusiasm; he has watched dozens of hours, Online invitation including calling out various members of the YouTube Golf Mafia on social media and in post-game press conferences while he was away. So while it was still surprising to see James stick it out alongside Berger and his merry band of golf buddies, the team behind Bob plays sportsthere were signs.
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James’ obsession is a story in itself. He’s endlessly interesting, and so is how he chooses to spend his time, and I was curious to ask Berger about the mechanics of how you actually score nine holes of golf with one of the most famous athletes—hell, one of the most famous the people – in the world.
But it’s also interesting as part of a larger trend. Golf participation remains high and trending, and it’s worth noting that the best athletes in all sports — think Mike Trout or Carlos Alcaraz or Josh Allen or Lando Norris or Caitlin Clark or dozens of others — are diving headfirst into the game. This coincides with the rise of YouTube Golf, which has demonstrated an appetite for competition outside of the pro tour. James watches live golf, too; he was part of Tommy Fleetwood’s fan club last summer and was called at This year’s Masters.
But he seems closed off to the YouTube scene — to the point where Berger said he knew the entire team by name even when he arrived. And while the round clearly scratched an itch for LeBron, it was also a massive win for Berger and Co., who are rarely star-struck these days but found themselves dazzled by James’ presence.
“When LeBron got there, he knew everybody’s name, the production, like everything, and I keep posting the clip, I keep laughing at it,” Berger said. “He goes to say hi to Joe (Joey Cold Cuts, another BDS crew member) and Joe, in his mind, knew what he was going to say to LeBron, and he comes out and asks how his son is, his one-year-old son. (LeBron) is like, ‘How’s Luca doing?’ And whatever Joe had in mind, he just wasn’t ready for it. So his mind just goes into a blender and he’s trying to get the words out, but he stutters. He says, ‘Yeah, yeah, uhh—.’
“He can’t put it away and I just thought it was so funny and I don’t blame Joe because I can only imagine having a baby and LeBron asking how’s your baby doing, but for me that was the funniest moment.”
Before long, however, they settled into the natural rhythm of golf, helped by the fact that James likes them – and that, on the course, he’s just a “big kid”.
“It was interesting because he really is probably the most criticized and speculated athlete that I think of our time,” Berger said. “A lot of people are either on one side or the other with him. He’s a family guy and he’s a great kid. He just likes to have fun. He likes to mess around. He’s a big joker. And I’ve talked to him a lot of times since we’ve gone out and played and he really likes the game and going out and having a good time — I haven’t seen that much, but he hasn’t seen that at all.” every day on the basketball side, but everything outside of that, he really likes to have fun and I think he’s gotten to a point in his career where he’s gotten so used to any criticism that he’s really able to block out so much of it.
For more behind-the-scenes with James, Berger’s prediction of where golf is going on YouTube, and an epic tequila and rooftop scene from after filming wrapped that day, check out the interview at to YouTube or in the embed below.
