Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has responded to LeBron James' questioning toward the media failing to ask him his feelings on the resurfaced photo from 1957 of Jones at a desegregation protest at North Little Rock High School.
James wondered why the press hadn't asked him questions about the photo, explaining the difference between the media's reaction to the wrongdoing of Black men with power versus white men, in reference to the controversy surrounding Kyrie Irving.
"I feel like, as a Black man, as a Black athlete, as someone with power and a platform, when we do something wrong, or something that people don't agree with, it's on every single tabloid, every single news coverage, it's on the bottom ticker," James said. "It's asked about every single day.
"It seems like, to me, that the whole Jerry Jones situation, photo — and I know it was years and years ago, and we all make mistakes, I get it — but it seems like it's just been buried under, like, 'Oh, it happened. OK, we just move on.' And I was just kind of disappointed that I haven't received that question from you guys."
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
Despite James' questioning on the media's coverage of the photo, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones responded to his recent comments by praising the NBA star on Audacy's 103 The Fan, mentioning how "he would have made a great tight end."
"First of all, you have to hear me say how much I think of LeBron," Jones said. "I don’t know of anybody that I respect more, I don’t know of anybody that’s taken every opportunity he’s had and maximized it. Not only (has he been) a great ambassador for sport, he has taken sports, he has taken his venues, and used those platforms - I want to be sure that you know where I’m coming from. It made buttons pop off my vest, so to speak, when he would talk about how much of a Cowboy fan he was. He would've made a great tight end. That doesn't change. There's nothing about any of that that changes."
Blue Star
The center of the Dallas Cowboys universe.
"Certainly, he has influence, and just because of all of the above," Jones added. "His accomplishments, how he's utilized his sport and how he's utilized his platform. How we have done it. He has enhanced basketball, he's made a lot of people a lot of money. I hope I have too."
Jones previously told NBC DFW that he was at that school entrance as “a curious kid.” He was 14 at the time.
“That was, gosh, 65 years ago, and (I was a) curious kid,” Jones said. “I didn’t know at the time the monumental event really that was going on. And I’m sure glad that we’re a long way from that.”
Some people pushed back on James, asking why he thinks reporters should feel it necessary to ask an NBA player about a story involving an NFL owner.
James was previously a huge fan of the Cowboys. That recently changed due to the team's stance on kneeling during the national anthem.
“Nah, man. I had to sit out on the Cowboys, man,” James said when asked if he was still a Cowboys fan. “There’s just a lot of things that were going on when guys were kneeling. Guys were having freedom of speech and wanting to do it in a very peaceful manner. … The organization was like, ‘If you do that around here then you will never play for this franchise again.’ I just didn’t think that was appropriate.”
In the 2016 NFL season, quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem in protest of police brutality and social injustice. As more players across the league did the same, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said in October 2017 that any Dallas player who knelt during the national anthem wouldn’t be allowed to play.
Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott came to Jones' defense in response to questions about James' concerns.
“Obviously, we can be more empathetic and give grace to one another, regardless of race. From the times we’ve come from to where we are now, thinking about the growth we’ve had,” Prescott said. "That’s who I am, how I think—optimistic. I mean, a guy who is completely biracial, black and white, it’s easy for me to speak on race on one side or another."
Prescott continued by saying that he "wouldn’t be here if it were still" 1957, as an example of the progress the country has made. He directed any further questions regarding the photo to Jones himself.
