It should come as no surprise that LeBron James is not exactly on the same page as former teammate Roger Mason who was quoted as saying James was prepared to lead a players boycott of the NBA if Donald Sterling still owned the Los Angeles Clippers at the start of the 2014-15 season. As we reported, Mason made the comment on sportscaster Jim Rome’s show on Showtime.
“We as players see what (NBA Commissioner) Adam Silver‘s doing,” James said before Game 5 against the Brooklyn Nets Wednesday night. “He’s moving forward, and if he continues, which we believe Adam Silver will do, to move aggressively on the situation, then as players we have nothing to worry about.”
Mason told Rome on Tuesday, “If it’s not handled by … the start of next season, I don’t see how we’re playing basketball. I was just in the locker room with LeBron. At the end of the day, you know we have leaders, we have player reps, we’ve got executive committee members. … Leaders of the teams, they’re all saying the same thing: ‘If this man is still in place, we ain’t playing.’ ”
But he backtracked Wednesday with a series of tweets:
According to USA Today, Mason is the National Basketball Players Association’s first vice-president and has an active role in helping the NBPA find its next executive director. Interestingly, James said he didn’t talk to Mason (he said he has his phone turned off for the playoffs), but said he has no problem with Mason.
Here’s why LeBron isn’t upset with Mason. If you recall, James is on the record as saying that he does not want Sterling or anyone from the Sterling family to own the Clippers. Period. Additionally, as USA Today points out, James continues to feel more comfortable with his standing in the league – as arguably the best player, he has become the face of the NBA – and has no problem addressing these issues.
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