LeBron James called out reporters following the LA Lakers' 128-109 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday. James was disappointed as to why he had not been asked about Jerry Jones' controversial photo from 1957. He wished that the media had the same energy when they were asking questions about Kyrie Irving's recent controversies.
"The King" had a question for reporters before the end of his postgame interview. He asked why the media has not been all over him regarding his opinion on the Dallas Cowboys owner's photo, which showed a young Jones watching the discrimination of Black students in an integrated high school in Arkansas.
"I got one question for you guys before you guys leave," James said. "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. But when the Kyrie thing was going on, you guys were quick to ask us questions about that."
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LeBron James added that it's appropriate for reporters to ask him and other Black players about the Jerry Jones photo. He pointed out that their history as people in the United States gives them the right to share their opinion on the matter.
It's also worth noting that the reporters were all over players like James regarding their reaction to Kyrie Irving's controversial actions, which included promoting a film with antisemitic tropes.
"That Jerry Jones photo is one of those moments that our people, Black people, have been through in America," 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 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."
"The King" ended the postgame conference after sharing what was on his mind. He didn't field any answers from reporters who were kind of speechless with James' remarks.
LeBron James was a Dallas Cowboys fan growing up
LeBron James was born and raised in Akron, Ohio. It would be easy to think that he rooted for the Cleveland Browns growing up, but James was a Dallas Cowboys fan. He even received a tryout from the Cowboys during the 2011 NBA lockout.
However, the LA Lakers superstar revealed in October that he no longer supports the Cowboys. He explained that he stopped after the team prevented their players from having peaceful protests in 2017. That was during the height of Colin Kaepernick's fight against police brutality.
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