The Decision caused a lot of Cleveland Cavaliers fans to burn their LeBron James jerseys, and it’s now a social-media “thing” for fans to post videos of their doing that when a player leaves a team.
And King James does not like it.
The consensus best player in the world took to Twitter to criticize fans, occasioned by the latest jersey-burn target — former Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas, whom the Cavaliers acquired in a trade for Kyrie Irving, much to the chagrin of some Boston fans.
“The burning of the jersey thing is getting ridiculous now! The man was traded. What do u not understand? & [he] played in a game after sister tragic death,” James wrote as part of a five-post tweetstorm Thursday afternoon.
The burning of the jersey thing is getting ridiculous now! The man was traded. What do u not understand? & played in a game after …..
— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 24, 2017
James went on to defend a current Boston player, Gordon Hayward, who signed a free-agent with the Celtics, prompting many a fan of the Utah Jazz to burn their jerseys.
“Gordon Hayward paid [his] dues as well and decided to do what’s best for him and family. Put in the work, got better became an All-Star, etc!!” James posted.
James then excoriated fans (and owners too) for their hypocrisy on the matter, noting that being a professional athlete is one of the few jobs where public calls for your firing are part of the gig.
“If these guys weren’t good, u guys would be the first to say ’get them up out of here.’ Man beat it! When ’we’ decide to do what best for us it’s ’cowardly’ ’traitor,’ etc but when it’s on the other side it’s ’business’ huh!?!?” James concluded.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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