Basketballer LeBron James has said he is sorry for posting a lyric that referenced "Jewish money".

The Los Angeles Lakers star said he simply got caught up in the music, thought the lyric was a "compliment" and offered "apologies, for sure".

The lyric comes from the song ASMR by rapper 21 Savage.

James shared it over the weekend on his Instagram account, which has nearly 46 million followers.

The lyric says: "We been getting that Jewish money, everything is Kosher."

James apologised on ESPN - "if I offended anyone".

He said he regularly posts lyrics and listens to "great music" in his car.

He added: "That was the byproduct of it. So I actually thought it was a compliment, and obviously it wasn't through the lens of a lot of people."

Later the rapper tweeted his own apology.