Lebron James is no stranger to the public spotlight whether it be for his legendary on the court skill or his extraordinary work in community.
The last three days have been a different kind of attention for man known as King James. During the December 21st episode of HBO's "The Shop", James compared NFL owners to slave masters.
“In the NFL they got a bunch of old white men owning teams, and they got that slave mentality. And it’s like, ‘This is my team. You do what the f*$% I tell y’all to do or we get rid of y’all.’ “The players are who make the ship go. We make it go. Every Sunday, without Todd Gurley and without Odell Beckham, Jr. without those players, those guys, there is no football. And it’s the same in the NBA.”
Allowed to have opinion, like every human being, James used his to attack those he saw as oppressors. His vicious words came across as asinine to some leaving NBA and even Lebron James fans questioning the stars comments.
The next day James found himself in even more hot water after quoting rapper 21 Savage's "ASMR" on his Instagram story. The since deleted story featured the line "We been getting that Jewish money. Everything is Kosher."
James received instant push back from the media and even caught the attention of Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind.
Hikind blamed fellow Democrats and their failure to routinely denounce anti-Semitism as the reason James felt secure making the post.
"Once again, I call on fellow Democrats to open their mouths. So far, there's been no outcry-just a whimper. If these slurs came from the political Right, they'd be tagged for what they are:classical anti-Semitism without even the smokescreen of an anti-Israel agenda. Wake up, fellow Democrats. We need one standard for everyone. As Dr. Martin Luther King warned us, 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," Hikind wrote on Facebook.
NBC New York anchor Adam Kupertein also shared his thoughts in a slew of tweets.
The same day as the Instagram debacle, James and Lakers lost to the Memphis Grizzlies despite James' double-double. The loss marked Los Angeles third loss in four games. Following the defeat, James apologized for his comment.
“Apologies, for sure, if I offended anyone. That’s not why I chose to share that lyric. I always [post lyrics]. That’s what I do. I ride in my car, I listen to great music, and that was the byproduct of it. So I actually thought it was a compliment, and obviously it wasn’t through the lens of a lot of people. My apologies. It definitely was not the intent, obviously, to hurt anybody.”
Lebron James' polarizing character grew to new heights this holiday season. The megastar went from a questionable comment regarding NFL owners to making insensitive remarks regarding the Jewish community and lost at home to the 10th seed in the Western Conference.
Christmas Eve brought even more bad news for King James as he admitted in an interview with ESPN's Rachel Nichols, that he tried and failed to recruit players to Cleveland.
"I have always recruited. I have tried to get guys to come play with me since 2007. I have got rejected a lot but I also have not got rejected. A lot of people just didn't want to come to Cleveland, to just throw that out there. I tried to recruit so many guys to come to Cleveland, and we actually had a couple guy but it didn't work out."
A legendary player should have people lining up to play with them, right?
Now NBA fans will be left wondering who rejected James' pitch to play in Cleveland and what star players James was referencing. James faced off against a player many speculate he should recruit to Los Angeles next season when the Lakers matched up against Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors.
James' Christmas became ceremoniously worse despite a win over the defending NBA champions. During the second half, James came up limp after fighting for a rebound and could be seen mouthing "I felt a pop" to the Lakers' trainer. James would not return to action and has been listed as day-to-day with a groin injury, the Lakers announced Wednesday.
Lebron James responded to the announcement on Twitter.
The injury will keep James out of action on Thursday when the Lakers take on the Kings-meaning James' 138 consecutive games played streak has officially come to an end.
James is likely to miss Friday's game against the rival Clippers but could return as early as Sunday when the Oklahoma City Thunder visit the Staples Center.
*preview photo credited to Clutchpoints.com
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