LeBron James And Maverick Carter Are Upset With Phil Jackson Because Jackson Referred To Lebron's Business Partners As A Posse
ESPN- New York Knicks president Phil Jackson’s labeling of LeBron James’ business associates as the three-time NBA champion’s “posse” touched a nerve with James’ camp on Monday. “I don’t care that he talks about LeBron,” Maverick Carter told ESPN.com. “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.”
Carter, a high school teammate of James’, has been involved in James’ business ventures for more than a decade. He comprises one part of LRMR, the management company founded by James, Carter, Rich Paul and Randy Mims in 2006 that guides the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar’s career on and off the court. Jackson, in an ESPN.com interview with Jackie MacMullan, made the statement while revisiting James’ departure from the Miami Heat in the summer of 2014 and what it meant for the tenure of Heat president Pat Riley.
“It had to hurt when they lost LeBron,” Jackson said. “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.”
Oh Phil. Phil, Phil, Phil, Phil, Phil. Now listen, do I think Phil was looking up what the word posse meant in Google before he said it in this interview? Of course not. I guarantee that Phil has a Yahoo search bar on his computer that he got when he installed some shitty software and doesn’t even realize he can switch back to Google. But that’s beside the point. I will admit that I thought this reaction was all a bit strong because the first posses I thought about when I saw the word trending today was Leo’s Pussy Posse, the Greenwich Mean Street Posse, and Clayton Kershaw’s Prep Boy Posse. But I’m a white smut blogger in the burbs. Phil coached during a time where the word posse could definitely be viewed in a derogatory fashion. Not some dated ass term about armed men and sheriffs like this is the wild west. But still, it could imply a certain image. So then I asked myself “Would an important Knicks executive actually say something that could come across as offensive to the most important athlete in his sport as well as countless other black men in the NBA?”
*Thinks about everything I have ever seen as a Knicks fan*
Okay, not the best question for Phil’s sake. Do I think that the word posse could be a loaded word, especially for a group of black men that are business partners? Definitely. Do I think Phil wishes he could change what he said? Definitely. Do I think that Phil is old, tired, and probably regrets taking this Knicks job for a buttload of money? DEFINITELY.
I’m at the point where Phil Jackson is just the rambling old man at the Thanksgiving table and you occasionally nod your head at him to be polite. He’s been griping about the way the offense has played the last few weeks and I think that Jeff Hornacek just brings him over a plate of mashed potatoes and hope he forgets what he is upset about. He just seems so old and disconnected from the way things are. We knew that long before the Goink tweet. I understand other people can’t or won’t view him the same way. But in the end, they are his words and he will have to live with the consequences of them.