'Villainization of LeBron James'?

What is the media's role in turning LeBron James from fan favorite into the NBA's biggest villain? Recent Penn State doctoral graduate and current Bloomsburg University instructor Jason Genovese has some interesting ideas about that.

Genovese presented his findings Thursday at the annual meeting of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport in Minneapolis. James' "The Decision" began the turn as the superstar forward announced on ESPN in summer 2010 that he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat. Genovese pointed out a little-publicized fact that ESPN actually sought out James for the broadcast.

Through a textual analysis, Genovese examined how the language of articles did not really mention that James earned the right -- via the players' labor agreement with the league -- to determine where he wanted to play.

Also, columnists placed a heavy burden of three to five championships for James to validate his decision.

The James situation also went past the issue of a superstar leaving a team, delving into racial subjects. The mention of slavery drew sharp dismissals from media members, but the historical/cultural context for the slavery references were ignored.

In fact, any perceived misstep from James resulted in enormous negative reactions from the media. It seemed as though James was never allowed to escape the villain label.

When Genovese publishes his paper, it should be a must read.

--Steve Bien-Aime

ESPN dishes out big assist to LeBron James

In devoting one hour of prime-time coverage to LeBron James Thursday night in its “The Decision” special, ESPN further blurred the lines between entertainment and sports journalism. The network effectively ran a 60-minute ad for the LeBron James brand that was less journalism and more production – despite that at its core, this was about a huge story in the sports media world.

ESPN reporter Jim Gray appeared to read off a script of questions, failing to follow up on key points, which protected James from addressing difficult issues. At one point James said “I never wanted to leave Cleveland,” but Gray never pressed James to reconcile that statement with his decision to leave. Later, during Michael Wilbon’s Q&A with the basketball star, James said his decision was not about money, something Wilbon accepted at face value. Yet arguably, moving to a bigger media market where he will have better opportunity to bring visibility to his personal brand will earn him much more money in the long run, issues that were not discussed either. Further, the “special” was sponsored by Vitamin Water, one of James’ major personal sponsors. Each commercial break featured ads starring James resulting in one straight hour of devotion to the player.

Still, by leaving his hometown and disappointing several other major cities (notably Chicago and New York), LeBron James finished the “special” not necessarily in the best graces outside of Miami. ESPN helped out once again, dishing out another assist by allowing James to promote a large donation to the Boys & Girls Club. Certainly this donation is a wonderful gift, but in the context of the announcement, and at a time where James will feel some immediate “heat” from Cleveland fans, the additional airtime arguably helped him do some initial “damage control” in this emotional moment, capping off one of the longest sports advertorials we’ve ever seen.

--Erin Whiteside