The amount of access the media has to NBA players has come under fire recently with suggestions they shouldn’t be allowed in the locker room following games. There are salient arguments why it’s important to get rapid-reactions and judge the tone of a team, but, on the other hand, weird stuff is happening from a few isolated individuals -- like trying to get photos of LeBron James naked.
Media should stop taking half-naked photos of LeBron James in the locker room
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
Even though his head was lowered, using his peripheral vision, he 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.”
No, this wasn’t a random thing by a clearly strange person either. It happened again. THE NEXT NIGHT.
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.
Here’s a wild concept: Maybe treat players like human beings? *gasp!*
This isn’t so hard to understand. People don’t like having their photo taken when they’re not ready, let alone not being ready and only wearing a towel. Just stop.
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