There are a tragic number of instances when LeBron James can drive down most roads in America and see painful examples of racial inequality, but this one is a reach.
After a win on Wednesday night in L.A., the Los Angeles Lakers All-Star forward expressed disappointment over what he perceives as a continued double standard by media coverage.
Let’s start this latest example of people choosing to see what they want with his first two sentences.
LeBron said, “I was wondering why I haven’t gotten a question from you guys about the Jerry Jones photo. But when the Kyrie (Irving) thing was going on, you guys were quick to ask us questions about that.”
“You guys” = media members.
Kyrie Irving, the Brooklyn Nets guard who was recently suspended by the NBA for a social media post in which he basically condoned an antisemitic film.
The “Jerry Jones photo” is the now famous shot The Washington Post uncovered in a recent report about the Cowboys owner when he was a 14-year-old student at North Little Rock High School in 1957.
The photo shows Jerry in the background as six Black kids were trying to enroll at the school. Jerry recently told reporters that he was a “curious” kid.
LeBron had been a public Dallas Cowboys fan for decades, and was often spotted at games; in October he admitted he’s no longer a fan of the team because of how Jerry handled the protest movement from NFL players.
Asking a current NBA player about Irving is standard, especially a former teammate.
When Kyrie made his anti-COVID vaccine stance public in Oct. of 2021, I asked former NBA veteran guard Jason Terry about it. Because Terry knows Kyrie. Because The Jet is a great talker.
Like James, Irving is an NBA All-Star and they were teammates with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2014 to ‘17. Irving and LeBron are the reason the Cavaliers won the 2016 NBA title, and are linked no matter where they play.
Asking an NBA player about the Jerry photo would have been odd, but LeBron is known to answer questions about everything, so not that odd.
This is being sold as a Black-white thing, which it is, but there are quality Black sports journalists all over L.A. who could have asked LeBron about the Jerry picture.
They didn’t because asking LeBron about a sports owner in another league may not have crossed their minds.
LeBron continued, “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.”
“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.”
There is some undeniable, painful, truth to LeBron’s complaint.
There is too often a double standard, and the “same intensity” line should apply equally. It doesn’t.
There is also some undeniable, painful, truth that he’s missing.
The Washington Post had two of the best sports journalists in the business, Sally Jenkins and David Maraniss, to collaborate on an 8,000-word story about Jerry Jones and specifically why he has never hired a Black head coach.
To suggest that this story, and specifically that photograph, have been buried is ignorant.
Type in Jerry Jones’ name and this story is the first mention on any internet search engine.
When you are done with that, Google “Brett Favre” and see what pops.
“Welfare” is the first word right after Brett Favre, followed closely by “scandal.”
There is a narrative that the story surrounding the former NFL quarterback has been buried because he’s white.
Favre has been accused of deliberately diverting millions in welfare funds from the state of Mississippi to his alma mater, Southern Miss, to help cover the costs of volleyball facilities at the school.
Favre’s daughter played volleyball at Southern Miss, and has since transferred to LSU to play beach volleyball.
What Favre is accused of doing is criminal and disgusting; he’s getting it both from the media and law enforcement agencies.
What a reader, viewer or listener chooses to consume is an individual decision; to say that the Favre story has not received the same “intensity” by media outlets is stupid.
The Jerry and Favre stories are there even if you don’t want to see them.
The problem remains that people see what they want, which applies to all races, genders and creeds.
LeBron has some valid points in his treatise but he missed his shot on this one.
