He might have deleted the tweet, but this social media trip up from LeBron James appears to be the straw that broke the camel’s back for one bar owner in Cincinnati. He’s vowing to never show NBA games until James is expelled from the National Basketball Association Now, there is a zero percent chance that’s going to happen. James is a market draw for the league. He’s one of the greatest players of all time. It’s just not going to happen. LeBron was the subject of controversy for his take on the Ma’Khia Bryant shooting in Columbus, Ohio on April 20 where he targeted the officer who shot and killed Bryant as she was trying to stab another woman (via The Hill):
A Cincinnati, Ohio, bar owner said Wednesday that he will refuse play any NBA games at his establishment until NBA star Lebron James is “expelled” from the league.
“If anyone wants to watch an NBA game, don’t come to Linnie’s Pub,” owner Jay Linneman said in a Facebook post.
“We will not air them until Lebron James has been expelled from the NBA.”
The declaration from the bar owner comes after James posted and then deleted a tweet of a picture of the officer who shot and killed 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant with the caption “YOU'RE NEXT #ACCOUNTABILITY.”
James's tweet was made on the same day that a jury found former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the killing of George Floyd last year.
Yeah, this was a screw-up of epic proportions. And it wasn’t just James. A ton of media outlets tried to frame this shooting as something that it wasn’t. Just wait until the evidence is presented. It’s not that hard because a lot of people were eating crow when the bodycam footage showed police being forced into the position of taking a life to save a life. There’s the 911 call explaining how Bryant was assaulting people and trying to stab them. Former NFL player Marcellus Wiley tore into James, ripped apart the narrative he was trying to peddle, and chastise him for being grossly irresponsible with his social media activity with this incident:
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.@MarcellusWiley responds to LeBron's controversial tweet. pic.twitter.com/VbEov9rW1B
— Speak For Yourself (@SFY) April 23, 2021
James did respond to the news about this bar owner’s boycott.
Aww Damn! I was headed there to watch our game tonight and have a drink! Welp. ?? https://t.co/RRfRksjckM
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 24, 2021
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