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LeBron James Throws Shade at ESPN’s Brian Windhorst for Being ‘Weird’

Poor Windy.

Mike Kadlick

James warms up before a game against the Magic.
James warms up before a game against the Magic. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
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Brian Windhorst has been covering LeBron James' basketball journey for the entirety of both of their careers. The two went to the same high school—St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron—where Windy began his journalism profession before moving to the Cleveland Cavaliers beat in 2003, the same year James was drafted there.

In 2010, when LeBron made his move to Miami, Windhorst did the same—as he was hired by ESPN that same year to cover the Heat. Since then, the sportswriter has remained with the network, closely monitoring the NBA's all-time leading scorer.

The two know have essentially been conjoined at the hip, but that doesn't mean they know eachother well. In fact, James made a pretty pointed comment to the contrary on ESPN's The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday:

"I seen Brian Windhorst on one of these shows not too long ago," The King explained. "This guy was saying he's like my f— best friend. These guys are just weird."

Harsh.

In Windhorst's defense, he did tell the SI Media Podcast with Jimmy Traina back in '22 that he and Lebron, "had messaged [in the past] but we both kind of moved on." He continued, “LeBron doesn’t have personal relationships like that with reporters. He hasn’t for a long time.”

Either way, both have made it—from the same home city—to the top of their professions. That's pretty cool.

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Mike Kadlick
MIKE KADLICK

Mike Kadlick is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, he covered the New England Patriots for WEEI sports radio in Boston and continues to do so for CLNS Media. He has a master's in public relations from Boston University. Kadlick is also an avid runner and a proud lover of all things pizza.

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