The LeBron Complex and Effects of Media on Athlete's Public Perception

*Previously posted in March*
Recently, LeBron James has been changing the way he uses social media. From coded tweets to ‘unfollowing’ the official Cavaliers Twitter account, LeBron has had the public questioning his intent. Many are claiming these tweets as innuendos to the ultimate decision to enact his right as a free agent and find a more suitable situation for his talents. This has escalated along with his other comments, such as saying he’d take a pay-cut for the opportunity to play alongside Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade, showing that his loyalty may not be as strong as many perceived in his second go around in Cleveland. Other reporters, specifically inside Cleveland, have attributed his actions as part of his yearly social media shutdown or to stir up the locker room in a way that all championship teams need. LeBron actually weighed in on the media speculations with a video mocking their push to drive the narrative of his leaving by taking the idea of him eating a banana as a possible innuendo into his “slipping” out of Cleveland.

I agree, though all speculation on my part as well, that LeBron is merely putting out information that is in the public’s eyes but not completely intended for them. The media is trying to crack the code of LeBron as if he is the Zodiac Killer and intending the public to figure it out when, in reality, most of this is not directed to the media but towards his own teammates and locker room. As for the comments about potentially teaming up with ‘friends’, it sells well as a story but anyone who understands the NBA knows why LeBron would so openly answer it knowing it would never be feasible. Obviously, one would point to the Miami ‘Big Three’ as ‘friends’ teaming up, but with the situations and desires of all the players in this potential super team, it does not add up. A large amount of media have crunched the numbers in how LeBron could build this team ignoring the fact that it was never intended to become this serious. As for some of the tweets LeBron has put onto social media, he has been on record as saying the team needs an “enforcer” or a catalyst to rile up the locker room in the pursuit of a championship. This need for an instigator was theorized by Kobe Bryant as a possible reasoning behind the LeBron tweets where he also took the time to suggest Kyrie Irving being another potential instigator for the team and it seems Irving took the advice by tweeting what many consider a coded message as well.

Despite disputing the intentions of LeBron’s actions it does not mean I agree with them or find them to be successful. The probability of him leaving is extremely low yet allowing speculation to persist will not end it because, in this case, ignoring the problem only allows the media to escalate the details even more than already. LeBron has put himself in a position where he can’t straightforwardly denounce all speculation of him leaving because that was one of the main reasons he left Cleveland in the first place, being taken for granted. The organization has had a history of assuming LeBron can be relied on without him leaving based on a somewhat birthright complex and now that he is back it is understandable that he show his freedom as an individual to force the organization into making moves that reflect a championship culture from top to bottom.

The prime example I use to show the power of the media and capability to abuse it would be the ongoing rumors about Kevin Durant, who before this season denied any future rumors that may arise before this upcoming off-season, allowing reporters to create their own headlines and label anonymous sources as their evidence even when admitting to having no source in any way close to Kevin Durant (i.e. Stephen A. Smith). Even after being called out directly by Durant for lackluster evidence of his considerations, Smith went on to defend his abuse of media powers by, ironically, threatening to make Durant’s life miserable using said powers. So, it is understandable to take media reports with a grain of salt as too often we see a higher frequency of stories being created than real stories containing direct evidence being covered.