Sport

LeBron James called out journalists for not asking him about Jerry Jones and it was super-awkward

LeBron James called out journalists for not asking him about Jerry Jones and it was super-awkward
Lebron Calls Out Media After Not Being Asked About Jerry Jones Photo
content.jwplatform.com

It's typical for athletes to face tough questions from the media after a game but rarely do journalists get asked hard-hitting questions from the athletes.

LeBron James, however, has a point to make.

During a postgame news conference on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Lakers player turned the tables and asked a room of journalists about their lack of attention on a controversy surrounding the president and owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones.

"I got one question for you guys before you guys leave," LeBron, 37, began.

"I was thinking when I was on my way over here, I was wondering why I haven't gotten a question from you guys about the Jerry Jones photo. But when the Kyrie [Irving] thing was going on, you guys were quick to ask us questions about that," he said.

Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

In November, Irving was temporarily suspended from the Brooklyn Nets for sharing a link to a documentary with anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.

James was asked to comment on Irving's actions earlier last month during a postgame interview where he said Irving "caused some harm to a lot of people."

At the same time, a resurfaced photo from 1957 depicted a 14-year-old Jones in a crowd of white students attempting to prevent six Black students from entering North Little Rock High School in Arkansas.

However, unlike the Irving controversy, James, a former Cowboys fan, says he was never asked about it.

"It seems like to me that the whole Jerry Jones situation, photo -- and I know it was years and years ago and we all make mistakes, I get it -- but it seems like it's just been buried under, like, 'Oh, it happened. Ok, we just move on.' And I was just kind of disappointed that I haven't received that question from you guys."

"When I watch Kyrie talk and he says, 'I know who I am, but I want to keep the same energy when we're talking about my people and the things that we've been through,' and that Jerry Jones photo is one of those moments that our people, Black people, have been through in America," James said.

"And I feel like, as a Black man, as a Black athlete, as someone with power and a platform, when we do something wrong or something that people don't agree with, it's on every single tabloid, every single news coverage, it's on the bottom ticker. It's asked about every single day."

The media room remained solemn as James finished his statement.

He then got up and left without taking further questions.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The Conversation (0)