LeBron James made the curious decision over the weekend to offer a public show of support for Deshaun Watson.
Watson and the Cleveland Browns beat the Washington Commanders on Sunday by a 24-10 final score. The former Pro Bowler Watson had perhaps his best game since returning from suspension, throwing for 169 yards and three TDs as well as adding 31 more yards on the ground (for 200 total).
The Los Angeles Lakers star James reacted to one of Watson’s passing touchdowns during the game with an upbeat message about the QB.
“Yessir D Watson!!” James tweeted. “Another one. That boy getting his rhythm back! #Browns”
Yessir D Watson!! Another one. That boy getting his rhythm back! #Browns
— LeBron James (@KingJames) January 1, 2023
James also shared the same post to his official Facebook page.
The message from the former NBA MVP was very poorly received. After all, the reason for Watson’s suspension (which ran for the first 11 games of the NFL season) was the troubling sexual misconduct allegations made against Watson by dozens of women.
Here is a sampling of some of the backlash that James received for the post.
Thought he was hacked for a second no way this is real
— Grant (@GrantTripple) January 1, 2023
you can still delete this
— niki grayson (unofficial) (@godsewa) January 1, 2023
Dislike
— Jiedel (@jiedel) January 1, 2023
Dude… he’s not coming back from an injury…
— Chet Faliszek (@chetfaliszek) January 1, 2023
James, a Northeast Ohio native, has been a longtime Dallas Cowboys fan. He recently said that he had dropped his fandom of the Cowboys for ethical reasons, which makes his support of the Watson and his hometown Browns curious.
