LeBron James took the opportunity Wednesday to chide reporters for not asking him any questions about Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ recent controversy, suggesting it had something to do with race.
After the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 128-109 thanks to James’ 31 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, the superstar forward asked the media why no one had asked him questions about Jones and the photo was exposed. recent video showing Jones as a teenager. with students trying to keep an Arkansas school segregated in 1957.
“I have a question for you guys before you go. I was thinking when I was on my way here, I was wondering why I didn’t get a question from you about the Jerry Jones photo,” James asked, via ESPN. “But when the Kyrie [Irving] was going on, you guys were quick to ask us questions about it.”
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Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, right, passes the ball under pressure from Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic during the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, 30 November 2022, in Los Angeles.
(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Kyrie Irving was a teammate of James when the two were with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Irving’s winning shot in 2016 delivered the Cavaliers’ first NBA championship over the Golden State Warriors and James’ third. The two had a less than amicable end to their time.
James said Irving “caused damage” when he tweeted a link to an anti-Semitic film.
Jones was criticized in a story in The Washington Post last week for the photo. He was in the crowd of white students trying to deny access to six black students at North Little Rock High School. The event occurred just a few weeks before the Little Rock Nine integrated Little Rock Central High School less than five miles away in what turned out to be one of the most important moments in the civil rights movement.
Jones has acknowledged that it is him in the photograph, but says he did not participate in the integration protest and looked on curiously and without animosity.
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Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, left, passes the ball as Portland Trail Blazers forward Justise Winslow defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, May 30. November 2022, in Los Angeles.
(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
“When I see Kyrie speak and he says, ‘I know who I am, but I want to keep the same energy when we talk about my people and what we’ve been through,’ and that photo of Jerry Jones is one of those moments where our people, black people, have been through in the United States,” James said. “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 all over the tabloids, all over the news coverage. , is in the lower ticker. It is asked every day.
“But it seems 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 been buried under, like, ‘Oh, it happened. Okay, let’s move on. And I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get that question from you guys.”
Jones told The Washington Post that he was “curious” about the situation, so he was present at the situation, adding: “I don’t know if I or anyone anticipated or had a history of knowing … what was involved.”
James was a famous Cowboys fan but said in October that he stopped being one because of the team’s kneeling stance during the national anthem.
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NBA player LeBron James of the Miami Heat throws a football at AT&T Stadium before the Sunday night game between the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys on September 8, 2013 in Arlington, Texas.
(Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
“There were a lot of things that happened when guys were on their knees and they had free speech,” James said. “They wanted to do it in a very peaceful way. A lot of people in their front office and a lot of people running the organization were saying, ‘If you do that around here, you’re never going to play for this franchise again. ‘ And I just didn’t think that was appropriate.”
Fox News’ Ryan Morik contributed to this report.
