You have to be kidding me. How can this guy be any more out of touch with reality? The backlash had nothing to do with race and EVERYTHING to do with the manner in which he left his former team hung out to dry.


LeBron says race played role in backlash

The statistical difference in reaction between blacks and non-blacks could be interpreted in two ways:

- LeBron's way - non-black people let race affect their judgement and therefore, feed their anger (vs. the neutral stance of black people)

or

- as some writers would suggest, "black protectionism" is serving to neutralize the reactions of blacks to "The Decision" (vs. the unfettered reaction of non-blacks)

In the end, it's irrelevant and deflection for a poor business decision.

It will be a difficult choice, but I hope a prominent caucasian sports writer calls LeBron out. He threw the race card out, plain and simple, because he has no angle left to play. He was stunned at the negative reaction he received by the way he left Cleveland. Now he's trying to use an issue that has no relevance to his situation.

Whether they will ever admit it or not, there was collusion on the part of James, Wade, and Bosh. They wanted to be player-owners for a team of their own making. I think they are underestimating all the responsibility that is involved by team owners. It is widely believed that Larry Bird and Magic Johnson saved the NBA from extinction (or at the very least total irrelevance) in the early 1980s. Now James, Wade & Bosh may inadvertently be responsible for the beginning of the league's demise.

I'm a middle class white guy. Even if LeBron had not played for my hometown team, I would despise him for what he did and the way he did it. Not because he is black - because it was classless. Just like the charade Brett Favre has subjected us to for the past 3 years. Just like two-time accused rapist Ben Roethlisberger. No athlete is bigger than the game.

Even if it's not him who came up with the "race card strategy," then he is being very poorly advised.

well it makes sense to throw the race card in now because al sharpton already compared the cavs owner to a slave owner. but, yea if larry bird did the same thing to the celtics, he would receive the same heat from every fan in the country.

also too, was anybody mad about michael jordan dawning another team's jersey? i know i wasn't.

Mega jerk.

Wrong idiot, Bam. It was actually Jesse Jackson who made that unbelievable comparison of LeBron to a slave.

No athlete in history left his team in the way LeBron did. That's why there is nothing to really compare it to when other players left a team.

Kudos to African-American writer Jason Whitlock for calling LeBron James to the carpet

Point the finger at yourself, LeBron

Send this column to LeBron James’ black enablers and sycophants, the men and women circling the racial wagons around King James in hopes of being invited to his South Beach parties, the men and women determined to cripple LeBron the way they once crippled Michael Vick.

LeBron James is not an innovator.

He is not the first athlete to create a business and give jobs to his unqualified friends.

Deion Sanders jumped from Super Bowl contender to Super Bowl contender.

Magic Johnson fired Paul Westhead.

Curt Flood and Oscar Robertson are the fathers of free agency.

Please, let’s stop with all the nonsense that white folks are uncomfortable with LeBron because he’s “taken control of his career.”

Give me a &*%$ing break. The rationalization is as tired and lame as listening to Limbaugh defenders claim his black call screener is proof Rush is free of bias.

With his self-aggrandizing, narcissistic one-hour TV exit – The Decision – LeBron James ruined his public image, not racism. LeBron inflicted more damage to his image Wednesday night when he told CNN’s Soledad O’Brien that race is a factor in the public backlash against him since The Decision.

In an attempt to justify his asinine statement and gain favor with The King, LeBron’s enablers launched a counter offensive. Rather than deal with the real catalyst for the LeBron backlash – The Decision – we heard talk about how troubled some white folks were by LeBron deciding on his own to take his talents to South Beach.

Are you kidding me? Shaquille O’Neal has played for damn near half the NBA. Shaq bolted Orlando and took his talents to Hollywood without turning off most of America.

Quiet down
LeBron James can't talk his way into popularity again. Mark Kriegel's advice is just shut up.

LeBron’s exit was disgraceful. It pissed people off. It painted LeBron as an uncaring boob. I’m sure that some bigots used The Decision as an excuse to air racist comments toward LeBron on Twitter or through e-mail.

No doubt, bigots – of any color – don’t need much of an excuse to flash their stupidity. But that doesn’t mean the backlash against LeBron is racist.

The truth is, LeBron James and his kiddie corps of handlers are no threat to the power structure. None.

They’re not Muhammad Ali and Elijah Muhammad telling the government the Viet Cong never called me ni**er. They’re not John Carlos and Tommie Smith raising black fists on the medal stand. Hell, they’re not Barry Bonds chasing down Babe Ruth’s greatest-slugger-of-all-time legacy.

LeBron James and his business partner/friend Maverick Carter are two spoiled kids, drunk on fame and privilege and clueless about how to maximize and utilize the power they have.

I’m speculating, but my hunch is many white folks feel sorry for James. They wish he’d open his mind to mature advice. They hope The Decision isn’t an indication James is going to have a Kobe Bryant-, Lindsay Lohan-, Tiger Woods-child-celebrity fall from grace.

LeBron’s enablers are providing him the racial cocoon of denial. They’re giving LeBron an excuse to avoid dealing with his own bad (The) Decision.

Racism exists. It touches the lives of millionaire black athletes, too. I was at ground zero when it was fashionable for the national white media (and the public) to pretend that Barry Bonds invented steroids. I was one of the first journalists to call out the Duke lacrosse prosecutor for succumbing to the black racism that tried to lynch white college kids on the word of a black hooker.


CONTACT JASON WHITLOCK

If you have a question or comment for Jason, submit it below and he may just respond.
Subject: Comment/Question: Name: Email Address: Hometown:


I don’t leave home without my race card.

I hate it when people throw it around to cover their shortcomings.

On Thursday, LeBron told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols that people were looking too deep into his CNN comments, but he stands by what he (and Maverick Carter) said. He’s playing the race-is-a-factor-in-everything card, which is true. But that’s not what he and Carter implied on CNN. They implied that people have a problem with James and his handling of his free-agency situation because his skin is black.

Outside of Cleveland, no one cares or cared that LeBron left. No one could understand why he left in such a classless manner. It’s not like he claimed that Cavs owner Dan Gilbert did him dirty behind the scenes or Cleveland fans mistreated his family the entire time he represented the city.

LeBron pissed on Cleveland because he could and because he apparently doesn’t know any better. Well, people don’t like self-absorbed bullies. So America is taking a dump on LeBron.

Claiming racism might win LeBron the respect of Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and the folks at ESPN who concocted and participated in The Decision, but all it does in the rest of America is once again illustrate that Team James is in over its head.

LeBron blew a perfect opportunity to say, “Man, I screwed up the way I left Cleveland, and I regret the animosity it created. It’s a mistake I’ve learned from.”

Maverick Carter half-heartedly acknowledged this when he said “the execution could’ve been better.”

Just admit you were dead wrong and apologize. The people unwilling to accept your apology and move on are the people who have a problem with your skin color.

The rest of us are just tired of seeing athletes do dumb (stuff).

Give me a break! Maybe, Lebron, that fact that you cock teased every city with an NBA team, including the one you grew up in a started your career in by holding an hour long press conference had more to do with the negative reaction that you received than the color of your skin.

What an idiot.

I see it a little differently. I don't think that the overwhelming majority of people upset with LeBron were upset that he left Cleveland-it was HOW he left Cleveland. It was classless and immature. It was wrong. Whenever you leave a job you don't burn down the bridge because you never know when you might have to come back across. He brought most of this on himself.

That said LeBron's rating is different among blacks and whites. And I would be quite surprised if LeBron and/or his family or new team hadn't received some racially insulting emails/letters. If so that would give more factual basis to his observation. So just recognizing different reactions exist doesn't in and of itself mean that someone is necessarily a bad guy.

LeBron is probably the wrong person to be talking about this considering how quickly he ran from discussions about the Vogue cover which p**** off some people.

thanks for the correction. it is hard to tell which idiot said what sometimes.

I agree with you, Lilo. And I empathize with Al Sharpton's motives when he told the Cleveland owner that Lebron was not a slave on his plantation. For one, the owner should have kept his mouth shut all together instead of trying to engage a player in a public debate. You're Dan Gilbert; not George Steinbrenner. It was different when George and Reggie Jackson fought in the papers, but the impertinent manner in which Gilbert approached Lebron James was just plain awkward and hateful.

I certainly feel for the many people affected economically by Lebron's decision and perhaps he could have handled it differently, but let's face it, when you televise a kid's high school games on ESPN b/c he's that much better than everyone else, you're pretty much paving his future as a primadonna. Get over it.

Besides...Cleveland sports fans are animals anyway[see The Dawg Pound]...so let them lose their souls. ;))

The Dawg Pound got neutered long ago. I don't know if the idiot, Big Dawg, is still around, but he was a 450 lb. mass with the voice of a 12 year-old girl. It was no wonder the Browns ran to Baltimore.

I don't disagree that some people may have thrown some racially insensitive remarks at LeBron. I just think he's pulling out the race issue to take away all of the bad PR he has endured since July. I think he and his management team have no other angle to use to their favor.

I was talking about this issue with an African-American female friend of mine. She is furious that LeBron is citing race. She brought up some interesting points.

First, when did LeBron ever cite race or stick his nose into anything racially controversial before? Her answer was never and I am hard pressed to disagree.

Second, she felt that LeBron probably has had some racial biases of his own growing up. His first real exposure to whites was probably not until high school. Then white executives either within the NBA or at corporate sponsors. My friend felt that LeBron's biases were displayed when he cited not liking the city of Cleveland and that he always viewed us as his enemy being from Akron, OH.

Her final point is that LeBron surrounded himself with his childhood friends, most of whom are not well educated. James himself was given special treatment (not uncommon amongst athletes), so who knows what reflection his GPA was in relation to his fellow students.

A very telling sign that LeBron and his business associates are not well thought of came from one of the preeminent African-American businessmen: Magic Johnson. LeBron's management team desperately wanted Magic's involvement in their LMR management company and Magic flatly refused.

What's unfortunate about such a public mis-use of the "race card" or whatever you may call it, it cheapens legitimate cases of racial profiling. It just makes it harder for the next person, where race really was a core issue (and not some smoke-and-mirror deflection, like in LeBron's case).

Agree 100%, Don Sicilia. Could not have said it better myself.

Some professional athletes have done a great job in alienating themselves from the folks who pay their salaries. They've hurt their sport. In this economy that's a dangerous tactic. Look at professional baseball. Case in point, the Mets and Yankees can't sell their high end tickets; and the Yankees are a top-draw in baseball. The Tampa Bay Rays can only get 12,000 at a game. You can be a superstar, but it's competition and winners who really bring fans to the event, not personalities. Wake up LeBron.