Lebron James is one of the leading men in the NBA, so he is usually one of the first people who is questioned following big scandals in the league. Most recently, Kyrie Irving was suspended for several games after reposting a book that many deemed inappropriate. Irving was picked apart in the media much like Kanye West weeks before him, with people calling him names and demanding he apologizes.
Irving did eventually release a statement and get back on the court, but the ordeal raised speculation yet again about how the media disproportionately focuses on black stories over the equally, if not more troubling, controversies of white people in the same fields. We’ve seen this a lot in sports recently. Former Celtics coach Ime Udoka got a lot of press after going public about his affair with a female staffer. It resulted in him being suspended for a year and leaving his relationship with actress Nia Long in shambles. Ime got around-the-clock coverage on ESPN, why NFL legend Brett Farve went under the radar despite news of him pocketing millions in welfare funds from the state of Mississippi.
Sports fans immediately pointed out how unfair this was, tweeting, “Mind you, Brett Farve committed an ACTUAL CRIME and is still getting less coverage than Ime Udoka mixing work with play.” Lebron James seems to feel the same way about the coverage surrounding Kyrie Irving. During a recent press conference, James wanted to know why people were so quick to ask him about Kyrie Irving but never asked him about the recently surfaced photos of Jerry Jones.
Jones is the owner of the Dallas Cowboys and has never hired a black coach while running the time. It did not help that a picture leaked of a 14-year-old Jones in 1957 watching white people block black students from entering a school. James argues that black athletes are held to such a high standard of accountability and wonders why this is not extended to their white teammates or, more importantly, their leaders. James feels that it is unfair how few people are covering Jerry Jones’s photo over Kyrie Irving’s situation.
Do you believe Lebron James has a point? Does mainstream media and press need to do a better job of being fair across the board?
