Getty LeBron James, Lakers
Aubrey Huff, the outfielder who spent 13 years in Major League Baseball with five teams and a career .278 batting average, has not been shy about expressing his opinion on social media in recent years. As more and more athletes, especially NBA stars, have become outspoken on social issues and other topics outside of sports, Huff, who calls himself a “protector of toxic masculinity” in his Twitter bio, has broadly railed against changing mores and standards in society.
He took aim at Lakers star LeBron James this weekend—specifically, his clothing choices. Last week, James arrived for pregame wearing what Australian men’s style site DMarge.com called, “a ‘dreamy’ Aimé Leon Dore seersucker ensemble before the LA Lakers vs LA Clippers game last Friday, staunch looking like the king of the resort.”
Huff, however, had a different take. “Young men this is not how a man is supposed to dress. Carrying a purse is not cool. I suppose dressing like this makes it easier to kneel.” He added the hashtag, “#emasculated.”
Price Tag for LeBron James’ ‘Shorts Suit’: $85,000
The second photo in the tweet is one of James arriving for the Clippers game last Thursday when the Lakers beat their L.A. rivals to take a commanding lead in the Western Conference during the NBA’s restart in Orlando. The Lakers have a 5½-game lead in the conference with only six games to play.
The first photo is from 2018 when James—then playing for the Cavaliers—arrived at Game 1 of the Finals in an eyebrow-raising getup. The shorts suit was a tailored Thom Browne ensemble that cost more than $45,000, according to The Undefeated. James also sported an Audemars Piguet watch that is valued at around $40,000, meaning his entire look ran more than $85,000.
That look drew a fair amount of notice around social media at the time.
Game 1 of the 2018 Finals was, of course, when James’ teammate, J.R. Smith (now a teammate once again with the Lakers), blew a late-game chance for the Cavaliers to win Game 1 after he rebounded a George Hill missed free throw with 4 seconds to play and pulled the ball out to the 3-point line instead of going back up quickly for a shot.
Time expired and the game went to overtime, where the Cavs lost before eventually being swept in the series. By the game’s end, Smith’s brain-freeze had overshadowed James’ sartorial choices.
Aubrey Huff was Not Invited to Giants’ World Series Celebration
Huff has courted controversy with racist, sexist and bizarre tweets in recent years, so his attack on James is not exactly unsurprising. Most recently, said in a video that while he believes that the novel coronavirus is real—it has spread through California, where he lives, and caused a second shelter-in-place order–, he will not be wearing a mask. “I would rather die from coronavirus,” Huff said, “than live the rest of my life in fear and wear a mask.”
But Huff has been offending since long before COVID-19 became a threat. In January, he tweeted his objection to the Giants hiring a female coach, former softball star Alyssa Nakken. Huff said he, “couldn’t imagine taking baseball instruction from an ex female softball player.”
Couldn’t imagine taking baseball instruction from an ex female softball player. 🙄 Have fun with that @bcraw35 @bbelt9 @BusterPosey
Back in February when the San Francisco Giants were planning a reunion of the 2010 World Series championship team (Huff spent his final three seasons with the Giants), the team informed him he would not be welcome at the ceremony.
In a statement to The Athletic, the Giants wrote:
Earlier this month, we reached out to Aubrey Huff to let him know that he will not be included in the upcoming 2010 World Series Championship reunion. Aubrey has made multiple comments on social media that are unacceptable and run counter to the values of our organization. While we appreciate the many contributions that Aubrey made to the 2010 championship season, we stand by our decision.
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Ex-MLB Star Takes Aim at ‘Emasculated’ LeBron James in Scathing Tweet