LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� LeBron James has questions about the disparity of media scrutiny he believes is being applied to a 1957 photo of Jerry Jones and the
The photo of Jones, captured by an Associated Press photographer, shows him standing among a group of white students at North Little Rock High School in Arkansas on Sept. 9, 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 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 鈥� he was a fan of the team for years before saying in October on Instagram Live that he has switched allegiances 鈥� but said Wednesday that he found it interesting that he wasn't asked about the Jones photo.
鈥淲hen I watched Kyrie talk, and he says, 鈥業 know who I am, but I want to keep the same energy when we鈥檙e talking about my people and the things they鈥檝e 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. 鈥淎nd 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鈥檛 agree with, it鈥檚 on every single tabloid, every single news coverage. It鈥檚 on the bottom ticker. It鈥檚 asked about every single day.
鈥淏ut 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鈥檚 just been buried under, like, 鈥極h, it happened. OK. We just move on.鈥� And I was just kind of disappointed that I haven鈥檛 received that question from you guys."
Irving for an eventual eight games by the Brooklyn Nets earlier this season after the guard 鈥� a former teammate of James' with the Cleveland Cavaliers 鈥� 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.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no place in this world for it,鈥� James said in November. 鈥淣obody can benefit from that and I believe what Kyrie did caused some harm to a lot of people. ... We as humans, none of us are perfect. But I hope he understands how what he did and the actions that he took were just harmful to a lot of people.鈥�
Jones told reporters last week that he was at that school entrance as 鈥渁 curious kid." He was 14 at the time.
鈥淭hat was, gosh, 65 years ago, and (I was a) curious kid," Jones said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know at the time the monumental event really that was going on. And I鈥檓 sure glad that we鈥檙e a long way from that."
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The Associated Press
