As great as he's always been on the court, LeBron James has also drawn a complicated reputation off it. His haters call him 'LeGM' for how he gets his teammates traded, and he has a long track record of passive-aggressive comments throughout his career.
James has often thrown darts at his teammates, coaches, and executives. That has often led to major roster overhauls and, in some cases, him leaving the franchise once his contract runs out.
That's why the media are always trying to get a piece of his mind when his team isn't faring well. However, it seems like he's not ready to throw Russell Westbrook under the bus despite his poor performances to start the season.
NBA News: LeBron James Says He Won't Diss Russell Westbrook
"I don't know. I feel like this is an interview trying to get me to set me up to say something," James said. "I can tell you guys are on the whole Russell Westbrook category right now. I don't like to lose. I hate to lose in any -- I don't care what happens over the course of the season, during the course of my career, I hate to lose, especially the way we had this game. But give credit to Portland. You guys are going about Russ and all the things you guys wanna try to talk about Russ but I'm not up here just to do that."
Stephen A. Smith Calls LeBron Out For His Comments
Nonetheless, that doesn't add up to ESPN's Stephen A. Smith. The controversial pundit took a swipe at The King for not owning his responsibility in this story, as he knew quite well what he was doing when he talked about the team:
"My brother LeBron James... Don't think you're that damn smart that you get to navigate through this," Smith said on First Take. "We, talking about the media setting you up to get at Russell Westbrook: No, my brother. You did that. Opening night when you said 'We're not a team of shooters'. You knew damn well who everybody was going to look at, and you said it anyway. You gotta own that, my brother."
To be fair, Smith has a valid point right there. That's classic LeBron James. So, did he really expect the media to ignore the fact that he wants more shooting on the team? He should've known better than that. He knows better than that.
