Reportedly, LeBron once left a $10 tip on a $800 bill.
Not to defend LBJ, but without the context, hard to read much into this.
For example, was the service absolutely terrible?
Or, did LBJ think he was leaving $100, not $10?
Or, did LBJ have a $10 drink on his own, send a $790 bottle of Dom to a nice looking couple who were celebrating their anniversary at a nearby table, and then leave a 100% tip for his $10 drink?
I agree all the above are unlikely, but again, context context context.
Definitely context matters. I read that list the other day, and it says certain people like Tiger and Madonna are notoriously bad tippers reported by multiple sources, so it's more likely that they are truly cheap. But some of the other people have just one instance cited against them (like LeBron).
The thing is when you’re rich celebrity, people expect you to be super generous. Even if LeBron had a $20 meal at Chili’s, people would probably think anything less than $100 tip would be cheap.
Many times, for large and/or expensive parties, gratuity is included in the bill. So was gratuity already included, and the waiter just upset they didn’t get a nice additional bonus? If I was a waiter, and LeBron came in, even if 18-20% was already added to the bill, I would still hope for a big tip on top of that. Now I wouldn’t be mad if I didn’t get that extra bonus, but I know some people would feel very slighted.
Does LeBron actually pay the bills? I imagine a lot of those guys roll with an entourage. One guy in the crew might be the driver, another might be in charge of paying the bills, etc. Did LeBron actual pay the bill, or did one of his crew pay the bill with LeBron’s money?
Also there’s a ton of terrible waiters/waitresses out there (I used to work as a waiter). The terrible people still expect a huge tip. Was the service really good, or was it not good, or perhaps did the wait staff act like crazed fans. LeBron can I get a picture, LeBron can I get an autograph, LeBron will you do a commercial for this restaurant, LeBron will you invest in my business, LeBron can you pass on my demo to Jay-Z, cooks and busboys coming out to get pictures/autographs, etc. I can see people acting unprofessional like this and not realize how it much brings down the service.
One example isn’t enough to come to the conclusion that he’s cheap, although he may very well be. If he has a reputation for this kind of thing (like Tiger and Madonna), then that’s different.