During an interview with ESPN over the weekend, Knicks president Phil Jackson discussed LeBron James’s alleged rift with Miami Heat organization over special treatment of LeBron’s “posse”.
“It had to hurt when they lost LeBron. That was definitely a slap in the face. But there were a lot of little things that came out of that. When LeBron was playing with the Heat, they went to Cleveland and he wanted to spend the night. They don’t do overnights. Teams just don’t. So now (coach Erik) Spoelstra has to text Riley and say, ‘What do I do in this situation?’ And Pat, who has iron-fist rules, answers, ‘You are on the plane, you are with this team.’ You can’t hold up the whole team because you and your mom and your posse want to spend an extra night in Cleveland.”
Today, LeBron was asked about Jackson’s comments and it wasn’t pretty.
LeBron on Phil Jackson: "I had nothing but respect for him as a coach …"
Q: "Had respect?"
LeBron: "Yeah"
Q: "Until now?"
LeBron: "Yeah"— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) November 15, 2016
LeBron’s manager and close friend, Maverick Carter, also took offense to Jackson’s comments.
All the hard work,effort and achievement and @PhilJackson11 still calls us a "posse"every step you take they remind you, you ghetto" @S_C_ pic.twitter.com/OPsPvAvFoM
— Maverick Carter (@mavcarter) November 14, 2016
Oof.