LeBron James Makes Arrogant Gesture as He's Shown on Super Bowl Jumbotron, No Wonder He Was Booed
If there were a penalty for unnecessary arrogance, LeBron James would get the flag.
In a sports celebrity world full of insufferable egomaniacs, the Los Angeles Lakers star is a standout, feeling free to hector Americans about their shortcomings while kowtowing to the communist dictatorship in Beijing.
But the crowd at Super Bowl LVII on Sunday let him know how little he’s appreciated — and on national television to boot.
As even the For the Win vertical of lefty-friendly USA Today noticed, the NBA’s new all-time career points leader got a decidedly unfriendly reception from the audience at Glendale, Arizona’s State Farm Stadium.
And LeBron being LeBron, he appeared to respond by honoring himself with an imaginary crown.
LeBron James heard a few boos here. So he put on his crown 😂 pic.twitter.com/Hiq3dDp1eg
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) February 13, 2023
That didn’t endear him to critics, either.
LeBron James is shown on the Jumbotron at the Super Bowl and the fans boo him #NBA pic.twitter.com/RwOjyA9ZUN
— 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧’ 𝐍𝐁𝐀 (@_Talkin_NBA) February 13, 2023
He did not just pretend to put a crown on? Lmao man this guy is corny. Self titled King smh.
— Stephen Mitchell (@SankaMitchell) February 13, 2023
Greatness doesn’t have to crown one’s self. That’s why LeBron will never be the greatest
— Mateo Sparlando Calrissian (@Sparlando72) February 13, 2023
will celebrate the day he retires. tired of the self-proclaimed king.
— Harrison Bergeron (@Hyp0cr1syHunt3r) February 13, 2023
Again- he brings it on himself. They would NEVER boo Jordan or Kobe
— Td (@Td00392420) February 13, 2023
Now, there are a lot of reasons to boo LeBron.
As For the Win noted, the game was played in Arizona, home of the Phoenix Suns, for whom James’ Lakers are a hated rival. The Super Bowl was also attended by a good many Philadelphia Eagles fans, a crowd not known for politely holding back on opinions — no matter where they are.
And unless James is a player winning your team championship trophies, the opinion of any decent person should be that this guy is insufferable.
He’s as quick to play the “racism” card as any progressive activist — except he’s a multimillionaire many, many times over in the supposed hotbed of racism that is the United States.
He feels free to insult the entire nation — again, the nation that made him wealthy beyond most mortal dreams simply for being able to play a game — on the basis of skin color.
The fact his superstar status puts him in a position where he’s coddled on and off the court — getting a public apology from the NBA referees union for a blown call after throwing a tantrum, for instance — doesn’t get mentioned as often as it should in the perennial “who’s the greatest of all time” debate.
And the fact that corporate sponsor Nike, which has a lifetime deal with James, celebrated his point record with an advertisement that managed to be both blasphemous and racist (mimicking the speech and music associated with black Christian worship while implicitly likening LeBron to Christ) shouldn’t endear his image to anyone.
Some of that is the fault of the sport-celebrity culture as much as it is James’, of course, but the fact that he apparently responds to a stadium resounding with boos by arrogantly pretending to place a crown on his own head shows how much he buys into the legend in his own mind.
Meanwhile, he’s gone public as an open apologist for the communist government of China, a country that was home to $10 billion in investments by NBA owners in 2022, according to ESPN. During a 2021 earnings call, according to Fox Business, the CEO of James’ paymaster, Nike, declared the sports apparel company is “a brand of China and for China.” So, it’s pretty clear where James’ bread is buttered.
And, of course, he ignores the actual, well-documented racism in China against black men and women who aren’t incredibly well-compensated for the ability to shoot a ball. (He also ignores China’s actual slavery involving other ethnic groups. James is consistent in his hypocrisy, at least.)
James has done a lot to deserve the boos on Sunday — and the whole country deserved to see it.
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