Legendary NBA basketball coach Phil Jackson has angered legendary NBA star LeBron James over Jackson’s use of the word “posse” to describe James’ group of friends:
LeBron James slams Phil Jackson for using term 'posse' (from @AP) https://t.co/Zg7ITxpF4p
— Tom Withers (@twithersAP) November 15, 2016
Jackson made the comments in an interview with ESPN where he commented on an old story alleging that James had once asked his old team — the Miami Heat — to overnight in Cleveland — his hometown. From the AP:
In the interview, Jackson said James has always demanded preferential treatment and called his departure from Miami as a free agent a “slap in the face” to the Heat organization. Jackson recalled a time when James asked for the team to stay over in Cleveland while on a road trip, a request that put coach Erik Spoelstra in a bind.
“You can’t hold up the whole team because you and your mom and your posse want to spend an extra night in Cleveland,” Jackson said in the ESPN interview.
James fired back when he met with reporters after a morning practice on Tuesday:
LeBron James says he’s lost his respect for Phil Jackson, and had some more strong words for him. pic.twitter.com/n7vZXenSwC
— Jordan Heck (@JordanHeckFF) November 15, 2016
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
“I had nothing but respect for him as a coach … but I got nothing for him.”https://t.co/4HFSjGC7FF
— ESPN (@espn) November 15, 2016
From ESPN:
“I’ve been in the league for 14 years and from the beginning two years in, I felt like I wanted to put my guys in positions of power, give those guys an opportunity to better themselves,” James said. “You know, in the beginning we were highly criticized and I was highly criticized about what I wanted to do to help some guys around me become very successful in business.
“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.'”
James also said that he didn’t think Jackson would use the term “posse” to describe a powerful sports figure who isn’t African-American.
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Oh, please. Has anyone ever accused Jackson of being a racist before? And since when is “posse” code for a racist term:
Posse is not a racist term,nor has anyone ever felt Phil Jackson is racist – other than that…
— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) November 15, 2016
Phil Jackson is the furthest thing from being racist.. Anything for an headline?
— B Rodge (@TheBrodgeshow) November 15, 2016
Answer: It’s not code.
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