Phil Jackson made some unpopular remarks about LeBron James during a recent interview, and the comments have resulted in LeBron losing respect for the 11-time NBA champion.
On Tuesday, James used the past tense when speaking about the respect he “had” for Jackson as a coach. When asked to clarify if that means he no longer respects Jackson, LeBron did not play coy.
LeBron on Phil Jackson: "I had nothing but respect for him as a coach …"
Q: "Had respect?"
LeBron: "Yeah"
Q: "Until now?"
LeBron: "Yeah"— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) November 15, 2016
When discussing how LeBron left the Miami Heat in 2014, Jackson said the relationship between Pat Riley and James may have become strained because LeBron likes “special treatment.”
“I always thought Pat had this really nice vibe with his guys,” Jackson told ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan. “But something happened there where it broke down. I do know LeBron likes special treatment. He needs things his way.
Before making that comment, Jackson spoke about an incident when LeBron was with the Heat and he wanted to spend an extra night in Cleveland with his “posse” during a road trip. Maverick Carter, LeBron’s longtime friend and business partner, was bothered by Jackson’s use of the term “posse” and ripped him for it. You can read Carter’s comments here.
Like Carter, James pointed to the definition of the word “posse” while unloading on Jackson.
“It just sucks that now at this point having one of the biggest businesses you can have both on and off the floor, having a certified agent in Rich Paul, having a certified business partner in Maverick Carter, that’s done so many great business [deals], that the title for young African-Americans is the word ‘posse,'” he said.
“I don’t believe that Phil Jackson would have used that term if he was doing business with someone else and working with another team. Or if he was working with anybody in sports that was owning a team that wasn’t African-American and had a group of guys around [him and] didn’t agree with what they did, I don’t think he would have called them a posse.”
It’s easy to understand why LeBron is upset with Jackson. The New York Knicks president had some unflattering things to say about James, and the criticism basically came out of nowhere.
