LeBron James is the face of the NBA. Whatever direction he goes is the same direction the NBA goes, as Patrick Beverley so poignantly let us know ahead of the NBA’s restart.
That’s why it’s so confusing that we don’t really know what role James was playing in the NBA’s players-only meeting on Wednesday after the players refused to play in playoff games in response to the Jacob Blake shooting.
There have been so many conflicting reports coming out about James and how he felt about everything. Did he support the Bucks? Was he mad at them for sitting? What did he think about them not telling anyone?
The only common factor we seem to have is that he walked out of the room. Other than that? Everyone’s story is different.
It starts with Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Haynes reporting of the last 48 hours in the NBA’s bubble. According to his story, James was “miffed” about the Bucks last-minute protest and lack of an action plan behind it. Haynes reported that they put everyone in a “no-win” situation.
His frustration with Hill and the Bucks was because the players didn’t have a plan of action that would warrant players returning to play, sources said. James’ mindset, sources said, was if they’re refusing to play, then what’s the end game and what demands must be met to continue?
He was then asked by Miami’s Udonis Haslem what he wanted to do and he responded by saying the Lakers were out. Then they walked out of the room, per Haynes’ story.
Stephen A. Smith’s story sounds pretty similar to that one. He says that James was upset, but he also claimed that the Lakers star “turned off” young players by talking down to them in both the players only meeting and the meeting with owners.
Stephen A Smith says LeBron James left players and owners 'turned off'
"He was speaking out of pocket and was talking to players in a fashion that really turned some of these young cats off . . . He came across as if he was the King with some crown."
(🎥 ESPN) pic.twitter.com/21ZkqCXzkz
— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) August 28, 2020
“I heard he was speaking out of pocket and was talking to players in a fashion that really turned some of these young cats off… The younger generation were not having what they were hearing from LeBron James because the fashion in which he spoke to them. So when he stormed out of there I was told it was in part because of that.”
Yeah, that’s strange. But it gets even stranger. The Athletic’s Shams Charania sent out a… let’s just call it a weird tweet that seemed to explain James’ walkout in a more favorable light to the Bucks.
Charania reports that he supported the Bucks, but “actions and outcomes” mattered most to him. And the Bucks had no plan, so he walked out.
Sources: LeBron James walked out of Wednesday’s players meeting because he supported Bucks, supported boycott, but there was no plan. For James, actions and outcomes mattered most; otherwise why do this? He became comfortable to play once NBPA mapped out purpose and plans.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 28, 2020
And then there’s Jeff Goodman’s report from the day of the meeting that say James didn’t say a single word at all.
Source: LeBron James did not say one word during the meeting.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) August 27, 2020
This is all just strange. Especially after James seemed to completely be in favor of the Bucks’ walkout per his Twitter account.
*WARNING: This tweet contains some NSFW language*
FUCK THIS MAN!!!! WE DEMAND CHANGE. SICK OF IT
— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 26, 2020
So, uh, yeah. Something doesn’t seem right here. Will we ever get to the bottom of it? Probably not.
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