LeBron James says he has lost respect for Phil Jackson after the famed NBA coach used the word “posse” to describe the Cleveland star’s business partners.
James responded harshly Tuesday to Jackson’s use of the term in a recent interview. James says such comments underscore the difficulties young African-Americans have in gaining respect, especially in the business world.
“It had to hurt when [the Heat] lost LeBron,” Jackson said in an interview with ESPN published on Monday. “That was definitely a slap in the face. But there were a lot of little things that came out of that. When LeBron was playing with the Heat, they went to Cleveland, and he wanted to spend the night. They don’t do overnights. Teams just don’t. So now [coach Erik] Spoelstra has to text Riley and say, ‘What do I do in this situation?’ And Pat, who has iron-fist rules, answers, ‘You are on the plane. You are with this team.’ You can’t hold up the whole team because you and your mom and your posse want to spend an extra night in Cleveland.
“I always thought Pat had this really nice vibe with his guys. But something happened there where it broke down. I do know LeBron likes special treatment. He needs things his way.”
The Cavaliers superstar says he had no previous relationship with Jackson, the current New York Knicks president who won 11 titles with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers. James adds that he respected what Jackson did with those teams, “but I’ve got nothing for him.”
The three-times NBA champion was criticized for surrounding himself with friends as business associates, but the group has built a highly successful enterprise.
Maverick Carter, James’s longtime friend, confidant and business partner, took objection to the language in an interview on Tuesday with ESPN.
“I don’t care that he talks about LeBron,” Carter said. “He could say he’s not that good or the greatest in the world as a basketball player. I wouldn’t care. It’s the word ‘posse’ and the characterization I take offense to. If he would have said LeBron and his agent, LeBron and his business partners or LeBron and his friends, that’s one thing. Yet because you’re young and black, he can use that word. We’re grown men.”
James also won some sympathy from one of the Knicks’ biggest starts, Carmelo Anthony. “I would never want to hear that word about me and my – I don’t want to say crew – but people that I consider family or people that I come up [with], been through thick and thin with,” Anthony told ESPN. “I’d want to be called a tight-knit group or family. That’s what I consider those close people to me.
“I think everybody would understand. I don’t think you would have to be a rocket scientist or an educated person to understand what that means to us.”
