Lakers News: Congressman Shouts Out LeBron James For This Off-Court Reason

The Chosen One was cited for a non-basketball moment.

Los Angeles Lakers All-Star power forward LeBron James recently was recognized on the floor of the United States House of Representatives -- but not for any of his on-court achievements.

Rather, New Jersey congressman Donald M. Payne, Jr. wanted to make mention of The Chosen One using his platform to discuss something beyond the immediate realm of basketball.

Last year, LeBron James called out media bias when it dealt with racism. I spoke about it on the House floor last night. pic.twitter.com/Qc2l1v4hN6

— Congressman Donald M. Payne, Jr. (@RepDonaldPayne) January 10, 2023

"I rise today to commend basketball superstar LeBron James for calling out... sports media bias. Late last year, a photo resurfaced of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones blocking the integration of an Arkansas high school in 1957. Mr. James had

asked

why he was not getting any questions about this photo, and stated that the media had plenty of questions after former teammate Kyrie Irving promoted an antisemitic film on social media. Jerry Jones owns an $8 billion sports franchise -- the world's most valuable one, according to Forbes. And the Cowboys rank among the worst NFL teams for minority hiring."

"The possible connection between these points is far more important than the hateful beliefs of one basketball player, yet the media asks about Irving and stays quiet about Jones. It is a question the media needs to answer for James and the Black community in America."

While James and Payne are absolutely right in that there does seem to be some sports media bias when dealing with these issues generally, this writer would postulate that the potential reason James was not initially asked for comment about the Jones issue, but he was asked about the Kyrie Irving controversy, was that James won a title with Irving and was his teammate on three straight Finals-bound Cleveland Cavaliers clubs from 2014-2017.

James has no professional relationship with Jones, other than a brief flirtation surrounding James potentially joining the Dallas Cowboys as the 2011 NBA lockout dragged on.

That said, it is strange that there hasn't been more pushback against Jones and his stewardship of Dallas in general. It is nice to see so much public outcry against Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder's misconduct, so much so that he has been compelled to consider selling the team. In the NBA and WNBA, Phoenix Suns/Mercury owner Robert Sarver was banned from being involved in much decision-making for the team for a year, before essentially being compelled to sell both clubs due to a litany of accusations of racist and misogynist behavior behind-the-scenes.

Why isn't Jones being similarly run out of town? As Payne says, his team is apparently among the worst when it comes to prioritizing diversity in his hires -- and that's in a league plagued by accusations of racist hiring practices. That photo of a high school aged Jones protesting integration is pretty damning. From a pure football perspective, Jones has also failed to elevate "America's Team" back to the promised land since its '90s glory days.