LeBron James deserves some privacy.
Media members were caught trying to take some inappropriate photos of LeBron in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ locker room during their most recent road trip apparently—not once, but twice.
Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group has the scoop (h/t ProBasketBallTalk):
After Sunday’s 123-108 win over Orlando, James was sitting at his locker stall with his head down as he scrolled through his cell phone. All he had on was a towel around his waist, so obviously he wasn’t quite ready to address the media.
Respecting his privacy, members of the media either gave him 10 feet of space or interviewed other players until he was prepared to interact.
Then all of a sudden James looked up with a baffled expression plastered on his face and signaled over a team official. Those who saw how his demeanor abruptly changed were curious to what had occurred.
It turned out that James did the equivalent of a no-look pass. Even though his head was lowered, using his peripheral vision, he some somehow managed to catch one of the media delegates taking a picture of him while he was semi-bare.
“That’s not cool, man,” James said. “I don’t miss anything.”
This person denied taking the photo and was able to manipulate his phone gallery in such a way that buried the most recent pictures taken. He got away, but others were not so successful the very next night in Miami.
Oh.
Rarely can we sympathize with famous-people problems, but this is an exception. LeBron shouldn’t have to worry about pictures of himself in a towel being “leaked.” Walking around the locker room should be something of a safe haven for him and the other players.
Anyhow, all’s well that ends well. Pictures of a towel-clad LeBron haven’t been circling, and it’s just one isolated incident…
Oh, make that two incidents.
Per Haynes:
Following a 106-92 loss to the Heat on Monday, James was addressing the media at his stall. On this occasion he spoke to the contingent immediately and had not gotten dressed yet. A towel was all he had on at that moment.
In the back of the scrum surrounding him, two media members in plain view were rapidly snapping photos of James with their phones while he was answering questions. This time team personnel caught the suspects in the act and removed them from the locker room.
Good god.
Yes, LeBron should absolutely put some clothes on. But what is this obsession with shirtless LeBron pics? You’re not going to sell them for obscene amounts of money. He’s put shirtless still shots and videos on Instagram and Twitter before (I believe). This obsession, this trend, makes no sense.
And even if there is some reasonable explanation, save said infatuation for times when, you know, you’re not working and aren’t supposed to be representing some company as a courteous professional.
Indeed, this all seems harmless. But it’s another invasion of privacy for a megastar who spends 90-plus percent of his time in the public eye. And that, among so many other reasons, makes it not okay.
