LeBron says Jones report underplayed
NBA star thinks Cowboys owner getting free pass
LeBron James has questions about the disparity of media scrutiny he believes is being applied to a 1957 photo of Jerry Jones and the recent controversy surrounding Kyrie Irving.
The photo of Jones shows him standing among a group of white students at North Little Rock High School in Arkansas in 1957. The group was blocking six Black students who were attempting to desegregate the school and news reports said that moments after the image was taken, the students were shoved down a flight of stairs.
The photo accompanied a Washington Post story last month that was about Jones’ legacy as owner of the Dallas Cowboys, including how the team has never had a Black head coach.
James has spoken often about the Cowboys since he identified as a fan of the team for years, but said he found it interesting that he wasn’t asked about the Jones photo.
“When I watched Kyrie talk, and he says, ‘I know who I am, but I want to keep the same energy when we’re talking about my people and the things they’ve been through,’ and that Jerry Jones photo is one of those moments that our people, Black people, have been through in America,” James said after the Los Angeles Lakers’ game on Wednesday night. “And I feel like as a Black man, as a Black athlete, someone with power and with a platform, when we do something wrong or something that people don’t agree with, it’s on every single tabloid, every single news coverage.
“But it seems like to me that the whole Jerry Jones situation, the photo, and I know it was years and years ago, and we all make mistakes, I get it. It seems like it’s just been buried under, like, ‘Oh, it happened. OK. We just move on.’”
Irving was suspended eight games by the Brooklyn Nets earlier this season after he tweeted a link to a film containing antisemitic material.
James was asked by reporters about that last month, and he made clear that he thought Irving made a significant mistake.
Jones told reporters last week that he was at that school entrance as “a curious kid.” He was 14 at the time.
“That was, gosh, 65 years ago, and (I was a) curious kid,“Jones said.
Thursday’s game
Josh Allen passed for 223 yards and two touchdowns and the Buffalo Bills cruised to a 24-10 win at Foxborough, Mass., against the New England Patriots.
The Bills (9-3) held New England to seven points until the Patriots (6-6) drove for a field goal in the final minutes.
The Bills move a half game ahead of Miami for first in the AFC East.
The Dolphins play at San Francisco on Sunday.
Browns
On the verge of his first regular- season game in nearly two years, Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson stayed clear of more controversy.
He refused to address nonfootball questions in his first comments since returning from an 11-game NFL suspension over sexual misconduct allegations.
Bills
Buffalo put edge rusher Von Miller on IR. He’ll miss at least four games.
Elsewhere
Troubled former Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown is wanted on a battery charge stemming from a domestic incident, Tampa police said.
Investigators said Brown, 34, and a woman were involved in a verbal altercation Monday afternoon at a home in Tampa. Brown threw a shoe at the woman, attempted to evict her from the home and locked her out, the report said.
There is a court-issued warrant for Brown’s arrest..
On Thursday afternoon, WFTS- TV in Tampa reported that police were outside of Brown’s house for an hour trying to get him to come out. Tampa police said late Thursday that Brown was not in custody.