Cavs owner got ‘vile’ voicemails
Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert received “vile, disgusting” voice mails after LeBron James called President Trump a “bum” on Twitter.
Gilbert said he was flooded with phone messages when the NBA star criticized Trump for rescinding a White House invitation to Golden State’s Stephen Curry to honor the Warriors’ NBA championship.
“I received voice mails after LeBron tweeted that were some of the most vile, disgusting, racist,” Gilbert said Friday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box. “There’s an element of racism that I didn’t even realize existed in this country this much.”
Gilbert called the comments unnerving.
“And you could hear it in their voice — the racism,” Gilbert said. “It wasn’t even really about the issue, and that’s what really got me, because they went to who they really are, some of them.”
Earlier this week, James said he did not regret his comment about Trump.
“Me and my friends call me that all the time,” James said on media day. “I’m not his friend, though. He’s not my friend. No, when I woke up and saw what he said about Steph Curry. First of all, it’s so funny because it’s like you inviting me to your party, right? As a matter of fact, it’s not like you invited me.”
James remains sidelined with a sprained left ankle and the Cavaliers plan to keep him out of an upcoming scrimmage.
James hasn’t practiced since Wednesday, when he rolled his ankle during the team’s second training-camp workout that day. X-rays were negative, and James has been getting treatment. Coach Tyronn Lue says he is day to day.
Lue says the three-time NBA champion stepped on a teammates’ foot while running up the floor.
Spurs’ Leonard to miss preseason: Kawhi Leonard will miss the entire preseason while rehabbing an injury to his right quadriceps, the San Antonio Spurs said. There is no definitive timetable for his return.
Coach Gregg Popovich said that the thigh has bothered Leonard since the playoffs. “It’s just from last year, working on things from last year,” Popovich said. “It’s gone a little more slowly than we thought.”
Leonard averaged 25.5 points and 5.8 rebounds for the Spurs last season.
Saturday’s exhibition: Rookie guard Lonzo Ball made his Lakers debut in Anaheim in a 108-99 loss to the Timberwolves, who were playing their first game with All-Star Jimmy Butler. Ball’s first basket was a three-pointer with 3:47 left in the first quarter. He finished with five points, eight assists and seven rebounds in 36 minutes.