Michelle Beadle revealed recently that LeBron James openly wanted her to be fired from her job with ESPN before she left the network, and she says LeBron and his camp hold a grudge against her to this day.
Beadle made the surprising claim last month that James tried to get ESPN to fire her. She said it was awkward and that she was “honored” to even be on LeBron’s mind. As for why the Los Angeles Lakers star had an issue with her, Beadle speculated that it was because she mocked him over “The Decision” like so many other members of the media.
Beadle elaborated further on the “House of Strauss” podcast with Ethan Strauss this week. She said LeBron wanted her removed from “NBA Countdown” and had a specific person whom he wanted to replace her. Beadle also claimed LeBron’s longtime business partner, Maverick Carter, has given her the cold shoulder.
“He had a person at the network who he wanted. He wanted her to be the host of [NBA Countdown]. He does not like me, and I honestly have stopped trying to figure out why,” Beadle said, via Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post. “For some reason, it goes back years. I’ve been around Maverick Carter. He refuses to shake my hand.”
As Glasspiegel noted, LeBron likely wanted Beadle to be replaced with Rachel Nichols, which happened after ESPN bought out Beadle’s contract in 2019. Of course, that eventually led to more drama when Nichols bashed ESPN in a leaked audio recording.
James would probably say “who?” if he were asked about Beadle, but she seems pretty adamant that he wanted her gone. For what it’s worth, Beadle once drew the ire of another global sports icon.
