LeBron James will not be sharing pleasantries with Phil Jackson if approached by him following the heavily publicized saga between the two.
Since his controversial comments about James and his inner circle, in which he used degrading language as well as calling his business partners his “posse”, Jackson shouldn’t expect James to shake his hand when the Cavs roll into Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.
After coming under fire about the comments, numerous NBA players and personalities have come to James’ defense which hasn’t been a good look for the hall-of-fame coach. Since his remarks, his reputation has taken a hit, as well as the overall respect people had for him as one of the household names in the association.
After the Cavs big road win against the Raptors in which James dropped 34 points, he was asked if he would entertain a discussion if approached by Jackson. James responded with a sharp and unwavering “no” and told Cleveland.com why.
“For me, I’ve built my career on and off the floor on the utmost respect and I’ve always given the utmost respect to everyone — all my peers, people that’s laid the path for me and laid the path for coaches, players, things of that nature,” “I’ve always given respect to them and it’s always, like I told you before, it’s always shade thrown on me.”
James still shows disappointment when looking back at the comments.
“Didn’t affect me, just know how much further we still have to go and how far we still have to go as African-Americans, even in the light of today,”
“It means we got a lot more work to do, myself and the team,” James said. “We’ve got to continue to protect each other and continue to just be as great as we can be.”
The game between the Knicks and the Cavs was already full on story lines, but this has added to the intriguing encounter. James will re-visit the arena in which he’s broken multiple records, as well as putting in some of the greatest regular season performances we’ve seen in NBA history.
James will re-new his rivalry with Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose, as well as squaring off against best friend Carmelo Anthony.
James loves to play at the Garden, and with this being the first time the Cavs have met the Knicks since the controversy, expect James to put on a show and make a statement in the Big Apple.
