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Phil Jackson comments made regarding Lebron James has started a huge row.The New York Knicks president and former coach had referred to Lebron's business partners as posse.And this did not go down well with James.He says he has lost all respect for a man he once admired.So i hear you say why the outrage?It's a word we hear everyday isn't it?
Well according to the Posse synonym,here is what it defines-a body of employees or servants who accompany and wait on a person -a drug lord and his ever present posse of sycophants.So now you can see why he got all bothered.I would
too if i was referred to like that,won't you?
too if i was referred to like that,won't you?
The moment Phil used the word was while he was having a recent interview.
In the interview with ESPN's Jackie MacMullan published this week, he made the statement while revisiting James' departure from the Miami Heat to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the summer of 2014 and what it meant for the tenure of Heat president Pat Riley.
"It had to hurt when they lost LeBron," Jackson said. "That was definitely a slap in the face. But there were a lot of little things that came out of that. When LeBron was playing with the Heat, they went to Cleveland, and he wanted to spend the night. They don't do overnights. Teams just don't. So now [coach Erik] Spoelstra has to text Riley and say, 'What do I do in this situation?' And Pat, who has iron-fist rules, answers, 'You are on the plane. You are with this team.' You can't hold up the whole team because you and your mom and your posse want to spend an extra night in Cleveland.
"Zero," James said Tuesday, when asked if he had any previous ties to Jackson. "No relationship at all. I had nothing but respect for him as a coach for what he was able to do. Obviously he was at the helm of [the team featuring] my favorite player of all time [Michael Jordan], and also being there growing up and watching him with the Lakers, but I got nothing for him."
James' business associate Maverick Carter took issue with Jackson's statement, telling ESPN on Monday that he felt compelled to respond, citing the recent debate around coded language.
"It's the word 'posse' and the characterization I take offense to," Carter said. "If he would have said LeBron and his agent, LeBron and his business partners or LeBron and his friends, that's one thing. Yet because you're young and black, he can use that word. We're grown men."
Speaking further on Phil Jackson on Lebron,the star 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.'"
This is going to run for a while.Phil will probably come out and say he was not aware of the meaning of the word and just thought it was a word that meant pals or friends,i'm just guessing he might say this,and then again he may not.
But anyone who knows the definition of posse ,will know it was not the place or time for that word to have been thrown around.