LeBron James: A Fox Sports civil war started over Ahmaud Arbery tweet?

LeBron James was called out again by Jason Whitlock over a tweet speaking out over the social injustice of Ahmaud Arbery. The tweet was so bad, one of his colleagues, Mike Hill, took to Twitter to defend the Lakers superstar. Lake Show Life breaks down the feud and Whitlock’s intentions.

Jason Whitlock for some reason just does not like LeBron James. Why? Your guess is as good as anyone’s.

To think Lake Show Life thought that the fanbase would take the Michael Jordan documentary “The Last Dance” out of context. Boy we couldn’t have been more wrong and it needs to be acknowledged.

This past week an employee from the Fox media corporation took the context of “Shut Up and Dribble” and tore it up and rewrote it in a way so ridiculous that none of these words in this piece will make anyone understand. Even Laura Ingraham probably was shocked.

Only it wasn’t from Fox News, it was from Fox Sports.

This past week, LeBron James took to his social media platform to speak out and spread awareness about the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old unarmed black man who was shot by two white men while jogging in Georgia back in February.

After the video was made public (This video will not be embedded out of respect to the Arbery family.) James spoke out hours later. Then Fox Sports personality, Jason Whitlock felt the need to chime in. Reading both captions will boggle the mind.

Let’s take a look at the highlights of the original tweet by LeBron James and then Whitlock’s tweet.

• LeBron James uses his platform (Something that is almost a common practice at this point!), not only to provide exposure but to send well wishes to the Arbery family. 
•  Fox Sports personality Jason Whitlock accuses LeBron James of “using” the death of Arbery to get this, showcase the difference between LeBron and Michael Jordan. 
• LeBron James never mentions Jordan, and the only person who had done that was Jason Whitlock himself.

To say that Jason Whitlock was immediately blasted in the comment section by members of the sports community speaks volumes of how bad this was. NBA star Tobias Harris and former players Kendrick Perkins and Matt Barnes all made sure to call Whitlock out. The Harris and Perkins quotes are courtesy of the New York Post. Matt Barnes’ comment on Twitter went a little deeper.

Kendrick Perkins:

"“You sure you’re not trolling and making it about you? He’s using his platform to speak out on a tragedy and you making it about him and MJ. Do better big bro!”"

Tobias Harris:

"“Because for @WhitlockJason its all about likes and retweets smh…,” wrote 76ers star Tobias Harris."

Matt Barnes:

"You always got some s— to say.. wtf are you doing, besides coonin?"

As you can see, Jason Whitlock has ruffled feathers from the NBA family it seems. If you think this here is serious. Check out what Whitlock’s Fox Sports colleague Mike Hill says in these two tweets below.

Jason Whitlock has made much of his career being consistently criticized for his outlandish opinions on social issues. The fact that Mike Hill is by his words putting his job on the line to speak out on Whitlock’s actions is almost unheard of. In many media companies (FanSided included!), there are strict policies about publicly criticizing employees.

Sadly, Jason Whitlock has basically built a sports program on his LeBron James criticisms. Plus this is par for the course for both parties involved.

The LeBron James tweet this past week is a normality for him. There’s a history of James speaking out against racism in this country, particularly for African American athletes (Arbery was a former football player). He’s spoken out about Trayvon Martin, speaking out at the ESPYs, and when he had the N-word spray-painted on a gate at his home a few years ago.

On the other hand, Jason Whitlock has also been critical of not only LeBron James, but with Michael Bennett, Serena Williams, and Colin Kaepernick.

Most articles will blast the daylights out of Jason Whitlock using this blueprint breaking down three African American men that my dominate social and mainstream media for weeks.

• One was a former high school football player in Georgia, who was murdered while jogging, because he was black.
• One is the most famous basketball player on Earth, who has overcome countless obstacles, because he’s black.
• The other is a former football player who’s become a well-paid sellout who cherishes the fact that he gets to write things that make white people comfortable about their privileges, as he has chosen to be their mouthpiece, because he’s black.

Lake Show Life is doing a special report breaking down why Jason Whitlock put out the tweet and the true manipulation of social media. LeBron James used his platform correctly. Jason Whitlock did not.

Before we discuss Whitlock’s intentions, let’s go back to what happened reportedly in February.

The backstory of what happened on February 23, 2020.

Ahmaud Arbery was thrust in the news cycle this week being killed on Feb. 23 by a white father and son in Brunswick GA after being chased in a pickup truck. The release of the incident caught by cellphone footage has led to outrage, questions  and passionate calls for justice in this controversial case.

Arbery’s family claims he was out jogging, while the McMichaels claim they thought he was a burglar according to the Glynn County police report. In that report, they also claim they armed themselves because they believed Arbery might have a gun.

In the video of the shooting released by Lee Merritt, an attorney for Arbery’s family, the footage shows these events.

• Arbery running down a road as a white pickup truck is stopped in front of him.
• Arbery runs around the vehicle, and a shot is fired.
• The video then shows Arbery and another man appearing to tussle as two more shots are fired.

Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, according to police records have already   admitted to getting guns and pursuing Arbery as he jogged past them. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation made the announcement that the McMichaels were arrested and charged with  felony murder and aggravated assault on Thursday.

This case cannot be prosecuted as a hate crime. According to the U.S. Justice Department website, Georgia is one of few states without a hate-crime law. South Carolina, Arkansas and Wyoming are the others.

Now what does this have to do with the LeBron James and Jason Whitlock situation? It’s actually simple. Attention. Right now the world is focused on these subjects.

• The constant spread of COVID-19 and the rising number of deaths.
• The loss of jobs because of the pandemic
• The financial collapse of many businesses and struggles of Americans.
• When will there be a cure or vaccine?
• When will social distancing restrictions be lifted and what are the guidelines going forward?
• How will this affect the upcoming election?
• The obvious question for a website like this. When will sports, particularly the NBA come back?  

Ahmaud Arbery has now become the latest hashtag, as his murder recently gained national attention after the video of his lynching was released.

It’s amazing how one post on social media can stir up attention not only for himself, but his show and Fox Sports. Notice the answer when he answered a comment about Michael Jordan comparisons.

Why bring up Michael Jordan right now? Because ESPN is the sports content king right now with “The Last Dance”. This is bad timing for Fox Sports.

ESPN has access to the hottest NBA sports content right now right in time for a “Ratings” period.

With the pandemic still a major issue around the world, there is not a lot of sports content right now. Everyone sports business is struggling waiting for the sports leagues to get the go ahead to safely get the players back on their respective playing stations whether it is the NFL, NBA, NHL, PGA, tennis etc. Up until last month, ESPN was feeling the pinch as well.

Then, Sunday at 9:00 PM EST became must see TV.

Since the documentary started, it seems that everyone is looking to capitalize on the popularity of the broadcasts. The Last Dance has smashed records for viewership for 30 for 30 documentaries almost 3 to 1. While ESPN has The Last Dance to garner attention to the rest of their programming.

Fox Sports does not. This will show big time at the end of the month during one of the four months of major television ratings. Those months are February, May, July and November. These months are important for the sales department.

The ratings show how many viewers watch the programming so the prices can be set for sponsors. Plus it also can put potential shows on the chopping blocks for low viewership.

All sports programming bottomed out when the COVID-19 pandemic came out of nowhere. ESPN right now can tread water thanks to the Jordan documentary. Plus, ESPN has provided a ton of exposure for LeBron James with constant discussions and comparisons to Jordan in G.O.A.T conversations.

Fox Sports have gone the other way by criticizing LeBron James in numerous avenues, particularly Skip Bayless using Michael Jordan to tear down the accomplishments of James. Jason Whitlock has taken his criticisms beyond the hardwood.

It’s not like he hasn’t done it before.

Remember this past summer when LeBron James was at his son’s AAU tournament?

LeBron James will always be a different public figure. Now that social media is now part of the news cycle along with being a promotional tool, one tweet including LeBron can catapult someone into 15 minutes of fame or infamy. Jason Whitlock has done this before in the dead of summer when there was no NBA news.

The one weekend LeBron James decided to go to a basketball tournament to support his son and  spend some quality father/son time together, Whitlock turned the act into a bad take. By the end of the weekend, it turned into a sports debate on social media and media networks for seemingly a week. How did it start? You guessed it. A tweet. The takes were so bad that Kyle Kuzma had something to say.

Folks, Jason Whitlock in this diatribe compared LeBron’s addiction to fame to cocaine. All of this because James was in a layup line before the game and went nuts when his son, Bronny caught a alley-oop on the fast break with one hand. Doesn’t make sense right? Sure it does.

It was during a ratings period in July. At the time the story and debate broke. that video had 2.4 million views and counting.

With that being said, that’s the concept of Jason Whitlock to be understood.

But don’t worry about LeBron. Lake Show Life can report that he will be just fine for these reasons.

• LeBron James has the media game figured out and it is sitting on top of the mountain.
• He’s on top because he has his own media company that is growing in leaps and bounds almost every year.
• LeBron James is the most powerful sports figure on the planet and the most influential NBA player in history.
• Jason Whitlock knows this. This stunt is not about statistics, this is about clout for his show.
• LeBron James knows enough about Jason Whitlock to keep his brand rolling right along.
• The attention alone from that statement (and this one) will still put money in LeBron James’ pockets.

Based on the tendencies of Jason Whitlock and the scathing tweets of his Fox Sports colleague, Mike Hill, one could look at this incident concerning the Ahmaud Arbery tragedy an attempt to make this about himself.

If you think Jason Whitlock will change over this situation, think again.

Whitlock took shots at LeBron James, athletes and society all while explaining “Toxic Masculinity”. 

If anyone is looking for an apology from Jason Whitlock about the intentions of LeBron speaking out on this social injustice, well Lake Show Life has the Empire State Building on sale for a good price. Based on the backlash of his tweet criticizing LeBron, one would think he would backtrack. No he sent a message to the athletes that supported James.

Then he decided to double down on the Michael Jordan/LeBron James comparisons taking a veiled shot at sports, society and men in general is what he calls “Toxic Masculinity”  If anyone can get a understanding of the feminine, softer generation headed up by LeBron James, well there’s the comment section below.

In closing, this is a promotional trick that some media people will stoop to. Realize that by Lake Show Life even posting this to the website is giving Whitlock what he so desperately craves with moves like this, attention.

But these things can only work for so long. There’s a shelf life to antics like this and Whitlock may be past his expiration date.