Cowboys Country

Lakers' LeBron James Rips Jerry Jones' Cowboys, Reveals Why He’s Quit as a Fan

LeBron James says that while he's no longer a Cowboys fan (he's switching to his home-state Cleveland Browns), he remains an admirer of individual Dallas stars.

Mike Fisher

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LeBron James and the Dallas Cowboys, together? They've always been a perfect marketing match ... but the two iconic brands - yes, LeBron is a "brand'' in some of the same ways that "America's Team'' is - are no longer attached.

Or so says James, the Los Angeles Lakers star and long-time Cowboys booster, who is giving up his fandom of his favorite NFL team for politically based reasons.

“Nah man I had to sit put on the Cowboys man. It just a lot of things that were going on when guys were kneeling, guys had freedom of speech and wanted to do it in a very peaceful manner,” James said. “A lot of people in their front office, a lot of people running the organization was like, ‘If you do that around here, then you will never play for this franchise again.’ I didn’t think that was appropriate.”

While James' characterization of the Jerry Jones-led hard line regarding the traditional pregame observation of the National Anthem is not entirely accurate - there is no evidence that the Cowboys made roster decisions based on the controversy that reached a peak in September 2017 when Jones orchestrated a symbolic gesture that had him and all the Cowboys players kneeling and locking arms together before a Monday night game in Arizona - Jones certainly did not shy away from expressing his views.

Nor did he shy away from making sure his players understood those views.

"Respecting the flag has been in place with the Cowboys organization since I got here, nearly 28 years ago," said Jones at the time.

Worth noting: In that game, the "kneeling prayer,'' as Jones termed it, came before the Anthem, Jones saying that he's not against any player's right to express themselves. But, he said, "If we're going to have any recognition, it needs to be before the Anthem.''

Again, that was in September 2017, which makes it interesting that up until now, and for the last six years, James has continued to connect himself to the Cowboys, playfully telling the story of his "contract'' with the team ("I still have the jersey!'') and at other times, as recently as last year, boasting that he could make the Dallas roster as a football player.

In this recent announcement, James did add that while he's no longer a Cowboys fan (he's switching to his homestate Cleveland Browns), he remains an admirer of individual Dallas stars.

Said LeBron: “I like a lot of the players on the team still, you know I love CeeDee Lamb, obviously our boy (Ezekiel Elliott), you know a Buckeye, I still message with him. I love Micah Parsons, he’s a dog, oh my god. Micah Parsons is a dog, Trevon Diggs, you know.''

The Cowboys on Sunday play host to the Bears. And in the game that LeBron James will apparently be watching instead, the Bengals play at the Browns.

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Mike Fisher
MIKE FISHER

Mike Fisher - as a newspaper beat writer and columnist and on radio and TV, where he is an Emmy winner - has covered the NFL since 1983 and the Dallas Cowboys since 1990, is the author of two best-selling books on the Cowboys.

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