It’s LeBron James catching heat after suggesting that the NBA should consider moving travel accommodations for games involving Memphis to Nashville. And as expected, the reaction was instant, loud, and slightly dramatic.
Let’s be honest. Anytime a superstar says something about logistics, people hear it like it’s a championship declaration. But this wasn’t a game-winning shot. This was more like a “hey, maybe this could be more convenient” kind of comment. Unfortunately, the internet does not do “maybe.” The internet does “headline mode” only.
Grizzlies fans wasted no time jumping in as they trashed LeBron James for making anti-black comment.
James was recorded during a golf game complaining about staying in Memphis hotels for games and suggesting the NBA should relocate the Grizzlies to Nashville.
“He came from nothing. I feel like he just got privilege now and it’s just a privilege thing,” said Marques Cook, the content creator behind Unapologetically Memphis at Thursday night’s Grizzlies game.
“He’s really fixing to get retired so I’m not even going to worry about him,” said a young Grizzlies fan at the game for his birthday.”
Anthony Sain, who talks Grizzlies basketball every day for Bluff City Media, said the response to James’ comments reinforces why the Grizzlies are in Memphis.
“I was proud to see not just how our city responded, but how other people responded, ESPN people, how they responded on it,” Sain said. “LeBron, hey man. You was just here marketing a show with the Lorraine Motel and the Civil Rights Museum and Martin Luther King Junior, and now you’re bashing the city.”
Sain said the backlash has been more widespread than previous criticism of the city.
“This is the same LeBron James who has been someone who has put forward as a champion of social justice and for issues that affect the black community,” Sain said. “With these white guys say these things about a city that’s, per capita, probably the most black-populated city in America.”
At the end of the day, this is what happens when a high-profile figure says anything remotely outside the box. It gets amplified, dissected, quoted, misquoted, and turned into a full-blown debate. Whether the original comment was meant as a serious proposal or just a casual thought, it ended up living a much bigger life online.
