Getty Lakers star LeBron James (left) and Nets guard Kyrie Irving
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James called out the media on November 30 in a fiery Kyrie Irving rant following the Lakers’ blowout win over the Portland Trail Blazers at Crypto.com Arena.
The four-time MVP and four-time Finals MVP was upset that reporters never asked him questions about Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who was photographed outside of North Little Rock High School in 1957 when the school was integrating. The media asked James non-stop questions about Irving when the Brooklyn Nets star tweeted a link to an antisemitic video.
“I got one question for you guys before you guys leave. 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,” James said. “But when the Kyrie thing was going on, you guys were quick to ask us questions about that.”
On Nov. 23, The Washington Post published a story exploring Jones’ track record of failing to hire African American coaches. Included within the report was a black-and-white photo of Jones and several White students standing outside of North Little Rock High School while six African American students were attempting to enter the building.
LeBron: Media Talked About Irving All the Time
James said the media talked about the Irving situation all the time, while the Jones picture was swept under the rug. The All-Star swingman was “disappointed” by that.
“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. 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,” James said.
“But 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.”
James and Irving played in 183 regular-season games together on the Cleveland Cavaliers, compiling a record of 132-51. The two NBA legends also went 39-13 in the playoffs and guided the Cavaliers to the 2016 championship over the Golden State Warriors.
The purple and gold tried to acquire Irving this past offseason, with Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reporting in July that Los Angeles and Brooklyn were actively engaged in discussions on a trade package that would have sent Russell Westbrook to the Nets and Irving to the Lakers. However, the trade never went through.
LeBron Stopped Rooting for the Cowboys
James, who grew up in Akron, Ohio, identified as a Cowboys fan as a child, but he no longer roots for them.
During an Instagram Live segment in October with longtime friend and business partner Maverick Carter, James explained why he stopped rooting for the Cowboys.
“I had to sit out on the Cowboys, man,” James said when asked whether he was still a Cowboys fan. “There’s just a lot of things that were going on when guys were kneeling. Guys were having freedom of speech and wanting to do it in a very peaceful manner. … The organization was like, ‘If you do that around here, then you will never play for this franchise again.’ I just didn’t think that was appropriate.”