Jason Whitlock would have you believe that Jesse Jackson’s recent attack on Dan Gilbert is nothing more than “an attention grab” (“why let Jim Gray and ESPN executives have all the fun exploiting LeBron™s naivete?”) but NBA Commissioner David Stern might not find fault with all of Jackson’s charges. If Stern had no problem with a franchise owner accusing one of the league’s marquee names of tanking playoff games, he’d not have fined Gilbert $100K. For an altogether more extreme take on the mass-vilification of LeBron, we turn to Sports On My Mind’s D.K. Wilson, who accuses ESPN of having “negatively manipulated the moments leading to Thursday night “ and with them, LeBron James™ perception among sports fans across the country.” There’s Maverick Carter off the hook, then.
Moments after the announcement that LBJ was to be the focal point of a one-hour special where he was to announce his choice of teams for the coming years, James was called selfish, childish, self-centered, and more by the same people who shook his hand, had him sign his autograph on paper and memorabilia for them and/or their children, or told him how he is the best basketball player on the planet, or, in some cases, shook his hand just a moment or two too long, hoping their subtle sexual innuendo-Mandingo fantasy might just be fulfilled, either on the down-low, if you catch my drift, or in a hot tub or boudoir of the King™s choosing or bent over a couch of the Kings choosing.
In an ESPN-made moment LeBron James went from Le King to Le King Kong.