LeBron James is accusing the media of a double-standard with its uneven coverage of the Jerry Jones and Kyrie Irving stories.
Per usual, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. James is correct to point out that Black people are granted far less leeway than White people across society. But issues don't occur in a vacuum, and there's important context about the Jones and Irving stories that he's omitting.
On Wednesday, James asked reporters why they haven't inquired about his opinion on the recently unearthed photograph showing a 14-year-old Jones standing among a group of white students who were attempting to block six Black students from entering North Little Rock High School in 1957.
"I got one question for you guys before you guys leave. I was thinking when I was on my way over here, I was wondering why I haven't gotten a question from you guys about the Jerry Jones photo," said James. "But when the Kyrie [Irving] thing was going on, you guys were quick to ask us questions about that."
On Nov. 5, James was asked why he thought so few NBA players publicly condemned Irving for promoting an antisemitic film on social media — and refusing to apologize for a week.
This is the second time in recent months that the sports media has been criticized for downplaying a negative story about a high-profile White sports figure in comparison to a salacious story about a high-profile Black sports figure. Earlier this fall, ESPN came under scrutiny for its focus on Ime Udoka's suspension from the Celtics, while Brett Favre's role in the Mississippi welfare scandal received far less coverage on its platforms.
Those complaints were also missing some context: the Udoka and Favre scandals are different. The former involves an improper workplace affair; the latter involves sifting through text messages and financial documents. Also, Favre hasn't been criminally charged. It's likely his role in redirecting state welfare funds towards building a volleyball stadium at the University of Southern Mississippi will receive more attention if an indictment comes down.
But even then, Udoka came within two victories of winning an NBA championship last season with the Celtics. Favre, though he's one of the NFL's all-time greats, has been retired for 12 years.
The visibility argument doesn't work with Jones. He's the most famous and influential owner in the NFL. But the picture at North Little Rock High was taken 65 years ago.
Jones claims he didn't fully grasp the issue, and was just checking out the scene in front of his school. "I didn't know at the time the monumental event really that was going on," he said. "I'm sure glad that we're a long way from that. I am. That would remind me [to] just continue to do everything we can to not have those kinds of things happen."
Jones, for what it's worth, is standing towards the back of the group.
Irving, meanwhile, unabashedly spouted anti-semitic tropes as an NBA star and 30-year-old man.
As one of the best players in NBA history, and Irving's former teammate, it makes sense that reporters would ask LeBron about the reaction to Kyrie's tweet. They're connected to one another.
There's no clear connection between LeBron and Jones.
Regardless, Jones is literally standing on the wrong side of history, and he's been shrouded in scandal for years. He's been accused of sexual assault, and earlier this year, the Cowboys paid a settlement after four cheerleaders accused a senior exec in the organization of voyeurism.
And as the Washington Post's story points out, he has a dismal record of promoting Black coaches. In his 33 years of ownership, the Cowboys have never had a Black head coach, and only two Black offensive or defensive coordinators.
The media may be burying a story involving Jones and race. But it isn't a picture that was taken more than six decades ago.
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NBC's Tony Dungy problem: Patriots fans directed their ire towards Tony Dungy for his biased announcing last Thursday night. But there's a bigger Dungy problem that NBC must grapple with: his long-standing opposition to same-sex rights.
The Super Bowl-winning head coach raised tens of thousands of dollars to fight against marriage equality in 2007, and declared he wouldn't have wanted Michael Sam on his team. Last year, he defended Jon Gruden after his offensive and homophobic emails were unearthed.
On my "Sports Media Mayhem" podcast this week, Outsports co-founder Cyd Zeigler said he wants NBC to address Dungy's continued elevation.
"I understand that 16 years ago, society was different. But over the last 16 years, Tony Dungy has done nothing to answer for that," said Zeigler. "And as I've asked NBC, and as I've asked other people, if Tony Dungy were a White man, and he had raised money to oppose interracial marriage, he would not be commenting on NBC. He would not be commenting anywhere, except maybe Breitbart. I just keep asking, 'Has his position changed?' I want NBC to say, 'Yeah, we don't care that he did that; and yeah, we treat homophobia completely different from racism.' I want people to own up to their decisions."
NFL sets its most insane ratings record yet: TV ratings for every major event continue to fall, except for the NFL. A record-setting 42 million people watched Giants-Cowboys on Thanksgiving, beating the previous high viewership mark for a regular-season game, which was set in 1990.
That's right: 1990. This was well before DVDs, never mind DVR and streaming.
The NFL is unstoppable.
Al Michaels watch: Al Michaels might be regretting his decision to work at Amazon. Thursday night games have been dreadful this season, and he's been noticeably disinterested.
For Michaels' sake, here's hoping the Patriots can keep it close against the Bills, or at least force a punt.
