LeBron James’ manager seems to insinuate Phil Jackson criticism is racist

Phil Jackson made headlines Monday when he said LeBron James requires “special treatment” and that teams have had to cater to him.

Speaking with ESPN’s Jackie MacMullin, Jackson related some stories in which he said James had made demands to stay overnight on trips in which teams never would stay overnight.

“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.

I always thought Pat had this really nice vibe with his guys. But something happened there where it broke down. I do know LeBron likes special treatment. He needs things his way.”

Responding to this quote, James’ long-time manager, Maverick Carter, appears to insinuate that Jackson’s comment was somehow racist with a “they remind you, you ghetto” comment.

You be the judge.

James grew up in Akron, Ohio, which isn’t exactly an affluent area of the nation. He’s stayed close with his high school friends, and Carter happens to be one of the guys that came up when James did as an NBA superstar.

He seems to think that Jackson’s use of the word “posse” is related to the type of posse that used to roam in the wild west when outlaws needed to be rounded up. What’s interesting here is that he cut off the other definitions of the word “posse” to eliminate the most common use of the word in today’s society.

We’ll leave it up to you fine folks to decide which definition Jackson was thinking about when he refereed to James’ posse.

One thing’s for sure, Carter did not appreciate Jackson’s comments. Not one bit.