LeBron James calls reporter out in Tweet for misrepresenting his quotes

LeBron James thinks recent quotes from a rushed postgame interview were misrepresented by a reporter.

After a win over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James made some quotes to The Athletic’s Sam Amick that were perceived and presented as impatience in Amick’s most recent column (subscription required).

James, on Sunday afternoon, took to Twitter to publicly express to Amick that he didn’t feel as if those quotes were shared or presented fairly.

LeBron James calls out reporter for quotes that were misrepresented

Here is LeBron’s Tweet, a direct quote-Tweet response to Amick sharing the article:

Here is the full quote, since he threaded a few replies:

"“Hey Sam actually my patience isn’t waning. You make it sound like I’m frustrated when I’m really not. I told you over and over, my job is focused on the guys in the locker room, my job isn’t the roster. That’s the reality of that conversation. And I said what I said with the Upmost [sic] respect and calmness cause that’s the mood I’m in! Your [sic] welcome! 5 game winning streak.”"

James also dropped a winking and crown emoji at the end of the second and final Tweet.

Looking at the quotes from Amick, it’s hard not to side with him in some way. Amick confessed in the article’s table-setting that they were delivered as James was trying to rush out of the arena and catch a plane home after a win, and confessed that the most damning quote, “Y’all know what the f— should be happening. I don’t need to talk,” was shouted from James down the hall. Not exactly the best set-up for a thoughtful conversation.

Still, the conversation was short, and shifted blame from James completely to the front office on the topic of roster construction.

For years, James has been perceived as part-player, part-GM. For better or for worse he has had input in roster decisions, as any player of his caliber would. Publicly, it seems he’s trying to cleanse his reputation of the idea that he’s the GM-by-function.

James says his patience isn’t waning, but it’s hard not to glean that from the quotes he’s putting out there.