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Traina Thoughts: LeBron James Has Done So Much More Than Just Open a School

LeBron James has done so much more than just open a school for at-risk children.

Jimmy Traina

CNN

1. ​LeBron James didn't just open an elementary school for at-risk children on Monday. He's setting these kids up for life and saving lives. The kids who complete the I Promise School program get free tuition at the University of Akron. He's also set up a program for the parents of the students to complete their high school education. There's plenty more according to CNN's Don Lemon:

- Tuition is free

- Uniforms are free

- Transportation is free for every student who lives more than two miles away

- Every student gets breakfast, lunch and snacks

- Food pantry for families

- Every student gets a free bicycle and helmet

You should watch the entire video below in which Lemon interviews James and gets a tour of the impressive school, but if you don't have time for the full six minutes, fast forward to the four-minute mark and watch the reaction of the kids when LeBron enters their classroom. 

Talk about living up to the nickname, "King." Oh, and there's also this important fact, too.

2. For some unknown reason, ESPN went above and beyond to bring Alex Rodriguez to Sunday Night Baseball. The move hasn't really paid off in the ratings or in terms of buzz. However, A-Rod has finally gotten attention for something he said during a telecast. On Sunday night, Rodriguez tore into injured Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish, saying the following:

"It has been a very sobering year with the debacle of the Yu Darvish who has been devastating, A guy to start a six-year contract with three of the worst months you could ever see. ... It's gotten so bad, they let him bascially police and take control of his own rehab, which is scary because they don't want to create anything he can push back against. He'll let the team know when he's ready, which, and let me tell you what that means to a clubhouse, you lose respect quickly. And, my concern for him, because he's a great young talent, is it may take two or three or four years and you may never get that back."

Cubs manager Joe Maddon was very polite in his response to A-Rod, saying, "I totally disagree with that. Everyone knows what’s going on. We know there is an injury there. We support his recovery. Everybody in there knows and everyone in the coaches’ room knows also, throughout the organization."

Darvish's agent Joel Wolfe, though, wasn't nearly as polite. He went after A-Rod hard, telling The Athletic, “If this story had come from a credible journalist, we might have shown some concern. But it came from A-Rod, so we’re paying it little attention.”

Daaaaaaaaaaaaamn.

Wolfe was not done firing back at A-Rod and passive aggressively bringing up Rodriguez's extremely checkered past as a player, saying, "During A-Rod’s absurd comments, the video shows that Darvish was right there on the top step in the dugout cheering on his teammates, which is what you want from somebody like that. He wasn’t hiding out in Mesa at the spring-training complex or back home like A-Rod was when he was suspended.”

Rodriguez has worked hard to rehabilitate his damaged reputation, but, as Wolfe proves, people may forgive, but they don't forget, and that's the dilemma for ESPN. Few things will get a broadcaster more attention than ripping a player, but when the person ripping the player was once suspended for a full year for PEDs, while also being known for having an inferiority complex to Derek Jeter, people can always fire back and question their credibility and their words don't have the same impact as you'd hope.

3. I wrote about the trend of athletes getting exposed for offensive and hateful tweets from their past in Monday's Traina Thoughts. Nationals reliever Sean Doolittle shared his thoughts on the matter and summed up things brilliantly. 

4. Don't sleep on this roster move on trade deadline day.

5. If you're one of those ignorant people who think you may get rich gambling now that it's legal, think again.

6. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones remains one of the worst people in sports. 

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7. The latest SI Media Podcast features an interview with Jenn Sterger, who talks about everything she has done from the day Brent Musburger made her famous to today. Sterger talks about her myriad jobs in sports media and the time she tried out to be a WWE superstar. She also discusses how she looks at the Brett Favre controversy through the lens of today's #MeToo movement, what that saga has done to her, and who has and hasn't apologized for it. She also discusses what it's like to be a woman in sports media, her stand-up comedy career, and much more. You can listen to the podcast below or download it on iTunes. Please, please, please subscribe if you haven't already and leave a review.

Traina Thoughts is the best of the Internet, plus musings by SI.com writer, Jimmy Traina. Get the link to a new Traina's Thoughts each day by following on Twitter and liking on Facebook. Catch up on previous editions of Traina Thoughts right here.And make sure to listen to and subscribe to the SI Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina.

IN CLOSING: I don't think I've ever seen a story in my life with more twists and turns than the Nikki Bella-John Cena relationship saga.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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