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Thursday, September 30, 2010 | 11:57am
Lebron James: Race Played into Media Backlash over his ‘Decision’ Do You Agree?
Lets let the Racial Determination Committee SOUND OFF on this one
@KingJames @soledad_obrien @CNN
The good ole Race Card. It trumps every card of every suit…except when its perceived as being played to often. LeBron James went to the well recently when he suggested that somehow his skin color was a factor in the negative press he received surrounding his decision to join the Miami Heat.
James has been slammed in his home state of Ohio and by media in and out of the sports arena for his decision to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to form a “superteam” in some way is a cop out given his ability to win a championship on his own. James has also come under fire for “The Decision,” his one-hour special on ESPN to announce his intentions in which James announced that he would play for the Heat as many felt it was self-absorbed “ego trip” and of no import to anyone but himself despite the fact it raised raised $3 million for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
In a interview Wednesday night with CNN correspondent Soledad O’Brien James was asked if he thought race played a role some of the negative headlines it generated, James answered: “I think so at times. It’s always, you know, a race factor.”
James’ manager and long-time personal friend Maverick Carter added: “It definitely played a role in some of the stuff coming out of the media, things that were written for sure.”
I won’t say too much as I want the RDC to chime in with their own input but I feel James is completely off base here. Race didn’t play any greater factor in this particular story than it does in any other surrounding a black athlete. Black is Black but Money is Green and that’s what this whole thing boils down to. The general public, for the most part, doesn’t mind athletes making these insane salaries just as long as them demonstrate the maturity to warrant being paid said salary. Often times athletes take their positions for granted and because of the MONEY they’re making their disproportionately slammed by the media. I think this more so than anything is the case here.
Sure I think seeing a 24 year old black man making more money in one day than you’ll make in a lifetime is scary, threatening jealousy inspiring for most of white America but James is not singled out in that instance. He’s once again demonstrating that although he’s a big story he’s not the only story that he thinks he is. With his decision to go to Miami and join forces with other superstars and his handling of the “Decision” up until now that the pressure of being the best player on the planet is too much for him.
What do you think Nation? SOUND OFF: Did Leborn James unfairly play the race card in Defense of his “Decision”?
FILED IN Editorials, News, Sports, TV
I don’t know whether the backlash was, at some level, racial. What he did had never been done before, so he can’t say, “when vanilla ice did it, he didn’t get any hate.” So for him to come out and say this, sounds to me like a desperate attempt to get get some of the heat off of him (pun intended). He is also minimizing what he did by blaming the media for the controversy/uproar. The fact is that HE is responsible for it. He strung out all these teams and the fans (and the media); then he set up a global tent and had a circus perfomance (The Decision), with Jim Gray as the ringmaster. Lebron is a narcisistic, spoiled child in a grown-man’s body and world. He has been groomed to be a ball player, but doesn’t seem to have a clue on how to be a man.
He’s becoming a little bit like ARod. Trying so hard to make sure people like him.
Of course some of the backlash and underline hateration is because he’s a young black male BUT…this is NOT the time to play the Race Card. There are too many other factors other than Race to bring up. E.L. touched on some great points. ESPN, and Lebron just got caught up in their own hype and when you combine that with how they did it and the actual decision he made. It just spells the creation of a villian. Things will change when they win a championship but until then…..let the hate begin.
great points here… Simply put, all James did was admit to the world he is NOT a leader but a follower. Now, back to the Fat Backs..
i think you’re taking the quote a bit out of context, he just said race always plays some of a factor. now that’s true when you are talking about the media and their ideology. soledad pushed him into a corner and he would have been more likely to say race played a factor than not as she wanted to get that answer from him.
an example would be if i said to you don’t ypu think apple pie has a funny taste, you will be more likely to agree with me
and another point is that we will probably never see the whole video and will never know everything he said, again just CNN showing their ideology.
and as for the whole ‘decision’ tv show why not milk basketball for all he can, he is LEBRON JAMES and not some unknown college kid, i honestly am happy for Lebron making an honest living doing a noble profession.
This web site is starting to suck. It has not been updated since Monday. And you wonder why this is not one of the top blogs on the net!!!!