The Cleveland Athlete Twitter Tourney: Round 2
July 28, 2010Mike Holmgren’s Not Concerned About the Browns Quarterback Situation
July 28, 2010From “apparently” nude women in bathtubs to pouring vodka on the floor of a Las Vegas nightclub, ESPN’s Arash Markazi penned a night-in-the-life discourse on former Cavalier LeBron James and his close friends. But just moments later, he didn’t.
After only several minutes of being a live link on ESPN’s Los Angelese affiliate site, the Markazi piece had inexplicably vanished. But, in a fashion that LeBron James knows all too well following the Jordan Crawford “Dunkgate” tapes from a year ago, the Internet always wins.
Not exactly casting James in the best of light as a professional or as a father of two, it is easily understood why this piece would top the list of the Greatest Hits that have come out since “The Decision.” Alas, the piece was disseminated rapidly on Twitter, posted on message boards and even encapsulated in to image files. Clips of the piece can be found after the jump. An explination as to why the post is no longer in original form will likely not be found anywhere anytime soon. Have at it, folks.
Five security guards are stationed around him, one at each corner of the table he’s about to sit at and another roving around with him, watching his every move. Anyone who takes two steps toward James is stopped and must have James’ approval to come closer.
The waiter bringing him his cup of green tea with a spoonful of honey and a dash of lemon juice makes the cut, as does the scantily clad brunette with a tattoo of a heart on her right shoulder.
She wants to take a picture with him. “I can’t right now,” says James. “Maybe later, upstairs, I’ll remember you’re the one with the tattoo.”
**
When trays of dessert plates are brought over, James gets up, preferring to start his party upstairs instead of indulging in the giant fortune cookies and chocolate cake. A security guard comes over and puts plastic wristbands on our wrists and escorts us through the back of the restaurant, up a flight of stairs in the bowels of the hotel and through a back entrance into the club. About a dozen security guards, moving their flash lights, direct us to a roped off section on the dance floor of Tao next to a couple of apparently nude women in a bathtub full of water and rose petals.
James, now wearing sunglasses in the dark club, immediately stands up on the couch and folds his arms high on his chest and nods his head. He smiles as he looks at the dozens of people crowded on the dance floor. Noticing him, they stop dancing and snap pictures as the DJ screams out, “LeBron James in the building!” and plays LMFAO’s “I’m in Miami.”
Carter, LeBron’s childhood friend and manager, begins dancing around James like Puff Daddy in a Notorious B.I.G video. A giant red crown-shaped cake is brought over to James while go-go dancers dressed in skimpy red and black outfits raise four lettered placards that spell out, “KING.” Carter grabs a bottle of Grey Goose and pours a quarter of it on the floor and raises it up before passing it off.
James’ infamous one-hour special, “The Decision,” was reportedly the brainchild of Carter, a 28-year-old who has never managed anyone outside of his friend James. This three-day party marathon in Vegas (which James is being paid six figures to host) is also Carter’s idea.
**
Bottle after bottle of “Ace of Spades” champagne is delivered to the table by a waiter flying down from above the dance floor like some overgrown Peter Pan on a wire. One time he’s dressed like a King, another time as Indiana Jones and another in a replica of James’ No. 6 Miami Heat jersey.
James, who can hardly see the flying figure through his tinted glasses, almost gets kicked in the head on the waiter’s last trip down. He looks at the girls around him and says, “I wish they’d have one of these girls with no panties do that instead of the guy.”
Toward the end of the night, Boston Celtics forward Glen Davis walks past James’ party and looks at the scene up and down several times like a painting in a museum, soaking in the images of the go-go dancers, the “King” sign and the costumed man delivering bottles of champagne.
Davis shakes his head and walks on.
**
(Update: Per CNBC’s Darren Rovell, ESPN claims that the draft of Markazi’s piece was “inadvertently published.” No word on if the image, caption and link to said piece were also inadvertent and if/when the surely to-be edited piece will hit the digital site)
(Many thanks to Matthew LaWell for the help)
93 Comments
I don’t know what’s more pathetic… The details of this buffoon’s exploits FINALLY coming to light after the media’s turning a blind eye all these years… or the sycophants who thought this guy was some kind of a saint.
I’ve always known he’s been a jerk for years. Trouble was, most people, including the media who are supposed to bring these things to light, didn’t do anything about it. To me, LeBron’s facade was just as thin as a known, reputed Mafia boss fronting as a legitimate businessman when every one knows (or should know) that he’s a Mafioso.
If LeBron’s team got this removed, then this guy basically is like the Mafia version of an athlete hook, line, and sinker.
@Denny – You hit the nail on the head…not much to look at in the article but still funny how ESPN is censoring itself to only further pucker up to the king. Their image is going down in flames just as quickly as James. It seems they’ve hitched their wagon to his car and any cliffs he’s driving off they’re keen to follow.
I have watched ESPN for maybe 15 mins in the past month. Zero respect for the network or it’s reporting anymore, oh well.
I’m not sure there’s any conspiracy in taking the article down….it was very poorly written, had no real point, and should be in a magazine rather than news site.
“The running back formerly known as Larry Johnson did it all the time too…”
He also did it because of an affiliation with Jay-Z. When he was one of the best backs in the league, Johnson appeared in a Jay-Z video and was ‘signed’ to Carter’s clothing line Team Roc/Rocawear. Has nothing to do with initials.
Scott, hmmm… well, now that makes sense. Thanks
@ Adam from Akron – part of the “should be in a magazine rather than a news site” may be that Arash is a former SI writer, who has written many of these types of articles. He was their on-the-scene guy, and now is probably doing very similar stuff at ESPN.
And don’t delude yourself into thinking that ESPNLA.com is a “news site”.
@46: Agreed, but I’m just curious what happened to her. I’m definitely not one to judge what ‘family values’ are supposed to be, but supposedly, Savannah and the two boys were the world to him. Guess that’s the old narrative that he’s ditching for a new one. (There’s a better word than ‘narrative’ but I can’t think of it right now…)
@26 – sign me up!
@26 and @56, Sounds kinda like parts of my college experience. Except we were poor,in crappy college houses, drinking cheap alcohol, but I recognize the behavior.
@26 and 56
I’m sorry, but there’s no way I would do this. I can’t fathom the degree of ego it takes to behave as he did. I mean seriously.
HE WAS WEARING SUNGLASSES INSIDE!!!!!!!!!!1111one
I love how he was taking imaginary shots/dribbles. He obviously didn’t have the clock running down in his head, or else he would have passed it to the cardboard cutout of D-Wade Maverick was carrying around.
@46 – It’s relevant because he used his family to partially justify his decision to leave for Miami and reiterated that justification when he told Chris Paul to similarly “do what’s best for [his] family,” while it is evident from his conduct, reinforced by this story (although some may argue here that he’s just having fun we wish we could have), that his primary concern seems to be for his image and that his values appear largely a contrived element of his brand (“It was a tough decision because I know how loyal I am”…”LOOK: I HAVE ‘LOYALTY’ AND ‘FAMILY’ TATTOOS.”). No, it’s not particularly ground-breaking information (LEBRON HAS AN EGO?!?!?), and, yes, he acted like this while in Cleveland, but it further undermines any thin justifaction for leaving based on selflessness. His conduct while in Cleveland necessarily couldn’t be relevant, at least in this regard, until after he made his decision and used the welfare of his family as an excuse.
@60: Fair point.
@27 (and then a mini-rant: For me its not about being 27 and wanting to party. What bothers me about it is that HE marketed himself at the mature young guy, the caring father, etc. While the media did help cultivate some of this image he made money from it. And after cultivating an image of wholesomeness he ends ups just being another punk kid. Until this point he was on a path to transcend the modern athlete which appeared to be his goal, but instead he is just like the rest of them. Of course, this is his choice for him to make for himself and not any of us to make for him. But by marketing himself as the new athlete in which the public financially supported him based on his marketing efforts has opened himself up for judgment by the public as that is all that he has left us. Even if that means having innocuous party stories blown of of perspective – he did it to himself because he had set that high standard himself.
@61 & @63
Brilliant posts!!! Glad to see someone gets it.
While LeBron may have said his “family” factored into his decision to go to Miami, during his announcement he never mentioned the baby mama, the kids or Gloria. They weren’t even there, I don’t believe. Windhorst has mentioned that a few times.
Maybe they family he was referring to is Maverick Carter and the boys at LRMR.
I’m also pretty sure caring fathers are allowed to party, as long as they don’t bring the underage kids along.
If I were him would I do this? Sure, if I didn’t have kids. Ya it’s expected of athletes, but that doesn’t mean it’s what they should do.
Personally, I giddy with anticipation of the stories when he’s living in South Beach.
Sure he can have ESPN cover up as much as he wants, but if Stern doesn’t fine or suspend him as the stories continue to surface there will be hell to pay with other players.
Did anyone ever find out if it was the city of Akron that took down that “Home of LeBron James” signs or if it was stolen?
I’m not trying to say his behavior is for everyone. But, as far as we know, he’s not doing anything illegal.
Mr. Cleaveland- according to Tom Withers the city denied taking any of them down. Those that have been removed must have been swiped.
@68- nope. he’s free to do whatever he chooses.
Just like I’m free to think hes a total d-bag
and life goes on….
Titus: based on recent events I am not sure that we can actually qualify LeBron as a caring father. At this juncture all we know is that he let some media members take pics of him with a baby. I do know that his sleeping around may cause stress for the mom and since the mom is actually spending the vast majority of the time with the child . . . I’ll let you make your own conclusions on whether LeBron is is caring . . .
Interesting take on this at Boston.com: http://boston.com/community/blogs/todays_soundtrack/2010/07/soundtrack_espns_coverage_fit.html
MonkeyBreath, that’s absurd. As much as everyone wants to pile on and make him out to be a super evil villain, there’s nothing to suggest that he is or isn’t a caring father. He’s managed to keep that aspect of his life out of the limelight up to this point. So to say he’s not caring or that he’s super caring is asinine. It’s all conjecture.
Also, let’s all remember that Udonis Haslem is fam.
I think the bigger issue is why ESPN would take the article down. It wouldn’t be because they wand to pander to him is it? It couldn’t be the same reason they let him take over the network for an hour to say something that it takes 5 seconds to say… Oh, I guess it was. And that’s the same reason that I haven’t watched LeSPN since “the decision”. Once this started they lost the little credibility that they had with me.
Star young athlete acts like narcissistic spoiled rich guy.
Contrives wholesome image to increase popularity and endorsements.
Hometown writers ignore behavior to ensure continued access to the little village’s most popular news subject.
(Yawn)
1. He always was a dbag off the court, this is not new info.
2. This is why i am very glad that our first championship in 45 yrs didn’t come at his hands. If I’ve had to wait all my life, I don’t want to have to reserve my adoration for my first pro championship team because its led by someone who is a complete a-hole. I’ll wait for Colt McCoy to take us to the promised land.
3. Unless Tim Tebow learns to play basketball, this type of stuff will always have to be dealt with in the NBA. See: Comment 28
Face it, guys, We Are All Hypocrites. At least most of us are, some of the time.
We didn’t mind this stuff when he was our jerk, but now we hate him for it. Sort of like our cheering for Albert Belle and to a lesser extent Kenny Lofton. (Although Andre Rison was never liked.)
Hey, we’re fans. It’s what fans do.
The article isn’t that big of a deal. This stuff is typical Vegas. I went to Tao last year and sure enough, there were half naked girls in bathtubs right when you walk in the door. Last time I checked I wasn’t a self-proclaimed chosen 1. At lea
At least the guy wasn’t going to the Bunny Ranch.
http://www.woio.com/global/story.asp?s=12882112
LAS VEGAS, NV (WOIO) – LeBron James gave one of his hometown fans something to talk about while partying in Vegas earlier this week.
James was letting loose at Lavo Restaurant and Nightclub inside the Palazzo hotel Monday morning, July 26th around 3 a.m. when Canton, Ohio’s Mix 94.1 FM radio personality “Fig” made the comment.
“Eventually I got up front and I said, ‘hey man Akron still loves you’ had the camera up snapped it a few times he kind of gave me the bird and smiled,” said Fig.
Now there’s no doubt in Fig’s mind that LeBron flipped him off. He said LeBron wasn’t real thrilled earlier in the evening when he was introduced and most of the people in the nightclub boooooed, but he never expected this.
“This is unlike LeBron so I think the reaction is pretty negative and its see ya man have fun in Miami,” said Fig.
Maverick Carter spilling champgane on the ground and dancing like Puff Daddy, haha. Why is that so easy to envision? What a d-bag..
[…] earlier in the day. After much inquiry, an ESPN spokesmen told various Internet sites that the Arash Markazi published report was not intended to hit the site at the time it had, despite at least one update – most […]
Denny: What was assinine about my comment? Titus stated “I’m also pretty sure ‘caring’ fathers are allowed to party, as long as they don’t bring the underage kids along.” I state that we so not know that he is a caring father as all we do know is that he has had picture taken of him and the kids. That’s it because as you state he has kept it out of the limelight.
However, over recent weeks what has come out of the limelight is his partying – in Miami, NY, and now Las Vegas. In NY we know what he was accompanied by women not the mother of his children. Suffice it to say use your imagination and figure it out. The kids are being raised by the mom, Lebron is whoring around and I am asinine to suggest that maybe LeBron isn’t a caring father?
Or maybe, just maybe I am seeing a pattern with LeBron that I have seen with others that shows maybe he is not the gift to fatherhood that Titus suggested (or the LeBron has duped the media into thinking) Because afterall, he’s never duped the media (and fans) before.
There is a pronounced difference between the relationship between lebron and his kids and lebron and his girlfriend.
And really, it matters not one iota. His family life is irrelevant to sports or our lives. Why drudge it up, other than to be revisionist and justify your angst?
Denny, I don’t give a **** about LeBrons personal life or his relationship with his gf but for gods sake he should stop preaching family and loyalty because someone who is partying with women like that is not loyal. So he is an arse. That is all
Well if his family life is irrelevant than so is his partying in Las Vegas and other off-court adventures. But in this case you are wrong. His actions and what kind of a father he is are relevant because he made them relevant. You want to keep the kids and relationship out of the limelight, don’t bring them in. In many cases the celebrity gossip of who is sleeping with who make no difference on our lives. But a person who markets themselves as a family man, a person who makes money off of this persona, that person makes the issue relevant. In this case, LeBron packaged himself as the wholesome mature individual and made endorsement money off of it (which the consumers ultimately pay for) so whether he is a good father/boyfriend is relevant to both sports, society and or lives since we were paying his check.
As for my being revisionist sorry that doesn’t fly. My thoughts on LeBron are the same as my thoughts on Jordan. Can’t stand him either because he pulled the same brown (and not because he faced Ehlo). And if any other athlete holds himself (for financial gain) to be a family man then I will hold the same opinion of them as well.
As for my apparent angst about LeBron, its limited to this one issue. I understand the reasons why he left, I get what he means about loyalty. Do I think he made some poor choices, yes, but they were his to make and that some of the criticism is undeserved (which I know some people will disagree, you know the one’s with true angst). But the issue of holding yourself out on the national stage as a great family man (again for financial gain) that is an issue I will always have a problem with whether its LeBron, MJ, C. Santana or Slider. Not revisionist and not angst in the way you are thinking (I mean I can refer to him as LeBron and do not plan on chanting Del-onte when he comes back as other have suggested).
Opinions can be incorrect? Cool.
Most clubs in Vegas have go-go dancers. No where in this article stated that he was getting lap dances from strippers and ordering prostitutes. Why do you care about this mans life so much that you want to judge, critique and criticize everything that he does, even if he doesn’t do anything. This article didn’t even mention that he was drinking. He was hosting a party/event for the club. Get over it. If there where go-go dancers around him, I’m sure that was apart of the deal. No one would care if that was Daniel Gibson up there partying or really anybody else for that matter… well besides Kobe, and after 5 titles, a rape charge, and telling on the entire league, he can almost get away with anything.
Saying that something is irrelevant is a statement of fact not opinion, so yeah it can be incorrect.
I never said LeBron is a gift to fatherhood. I just said being a caring parent and enjoying yourself as a 25-year-old are not mutually exclusive.
That’s all.
And this guy’s the father of two kids. What a fine dad.
Regardless of what kind of boyfriend he is, what kind of role model is he being to his kids? What is he showing them about relationships and how to respectfully treat women. The guy is a child. He shouldn’t be allowed to raise kids.