LOS ANGELES — After answering questions about the Los Angeles Lakers’ 128-109 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday, LeBron James turned the tables on reporters, asking some questions of his own.
James called out what he referred to as “the double standard” between the media’s coverage of NBA player Kyrie Irving and the coverage of Jerry Jones, the owner, president, and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys football team.
LeBron was referring to a recently surfaced photograph of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, at the age of 14. Jones can be spotted in a crowd of white students who were attempting to block six Black students from entering the doors of North Little Rock High School in 1957.
On November 23rd, The Washington Post published a story that examined Jerry Jones’ track record of failing to hire Black coaches during his tenure as owner of the Cowboys. Included in the story was the black-and-white photo from 1957.
When asked about the 65-year-old photograph by reporters last week, Jones said that he was merely present as a curious onlooker and did not engage in discrimination against the Black students.
Meanwhile, on November 5th, the Brooklyn Nets announced a suspension for LeBron James’ former teammate, Kyrie Irving, after he shared a link to a documentary containing antisemitic tropes on social media. Irving has since returned to play for the Brooklyn Nets after serving an 8-game suspension.
Double Standard: LeBron James Shares His Thoughts
But despite not being asked about the Jerry Jones situation, LeBron James shared his thoughts anyway.
“I was wondering why I haven’t gotten a question from you guys about the Jerry Jones photo,” LeBron asked.
“But when the Kyrie thing was going on, you guys were quick to ask us questions about that,” he continued.
“When I watched Kyrie talk and he says ‘I know who I am’ I want to keep the same energy when we’re talking about my people and the things we’ve been through. And that Jerry Jones photo is one of those moments that our people, Black people, have been through in America,” he continued.
“When we do something wrong, it’s on every single tabloid, every single news coverage, it’s on the bottom ticker, it’s asked about every single day. But it seems like to me, with 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 been buried under, like oh it happened, let’s move on,” Lebron said, adding that he was disappointed that reporters had failed to ask him about it.
People React to LeBron James’ Statement
The clip of James speaking with reporters earlier this week has gone viral, with many people taking to social media to share their thoughts on Kyrie Irving, Jerry Jones, and LeBron James.
“He has a valid point. It is [a] different sport but I watch the NFL as well and I have not seen it being brought up once during their broadcasting. Even when Dallas played nor was it brought up in any press conferences. The disparity is clear. The same sports reporters and networks cover all sports they reported heavily on Kyrie but it’s crickets for Jerry Jones. Some may say he was a kid when it happened but he should come out and denounce racism at the least. Jerry Jones literally said he was a curious kid and that was it all is forgotten,” said one person.
“Y’all keep saying a Lil too late cause of Kyrie like u can’t [say] Kyrie was wrong for posting a vid he never watched but also think the media and the punishment [were] excessive. The same excessive media refuses to cover Jerry who supports Trump, supports and donated to Greg Abbott, and wanted to fire players for kneeling with Kap. The list is long with him so it never ended at 14,” commented another viewer.
Meantime, some people don’t back LeBron.
“It’s a little too late Lebron! He could have kept the same energy the first time around when he had the chance to defend Kyrie, but he didn’t. Now Lebron wants to talk about double standards? Don’t backpedal now,” commented one person.
“They’re covering the NBA, why would they ask about the NFL?” asked someone else.
Let us know in the comments, how do you feel about what LeBron James had to say?
