When it comes to sports media literacy, opinions about Brian Windhorst have always been my litmus test.
If you think he’s just some hanger-on who’s only on ESPN every day because the start of his journalism career coincided with LeBron James’ rise to basketball stardom, then I’m sorry to say you failed. But if you recognize him as not only one of the hardest-working, but also most informed, entertaining and indisputably versatile personalities/reporters/columnists/podcasters covering not just the NBA, but any sport today? Then by all means, I’m all ears.
Unfortunately, LeBron James failed my test.
While James escalating his feud with Stephen A. Smith generated the bulk of the headlines from his hour-long interview with Pat McAfee on Wednesday, his jab at another ESPN employee on ESPN airwaves stuck with me the most. For reasons I can’t understand, let alone articulate or explain, the 40-year-old Los Angeles Lakers superstar took an unprovoked jab at the reporter who’s been telling the story of his career since he was a teenager.
“I see a lot of s**t too. Like I see Brian Windhorst on one of these shows not too long ago,” James began before being cut off by McAfee.
“You guys played together in high school, right?” McAfee asked jokingly in reference to James and Windhorst’s shared alma mater of St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron.
“Yeah, this guy who says he’s like my f**king best friend,” James continued. “These guys are just weird.”
Apparently, Windhorst drew James’ ire by suggesting that Michael Jordan was one of the reasons the future 4-time MVP signed with Nike as he was entering the NBA in 2003. As the 21-time All-Star explained, that wasn’t actually the case. In fact, aside from the unprecedented $90 million contract he received, one of the biggest reasons he signed with the Swoosh was because he wanted to wear… Air Jordans?
“What do I want to wear off the court? I was like, ‘I want to wear f**king Nike.’ I want to wear Jordans. I want to wear Pennys. I want to wear Bo Jacksons. I want to wear Air Maxes,” James told McAfee. “Like, what are we talking about?”
James appeared to be referencing comments Windhorst made on First Take in the early days of his feud with Smith, which perhaps helps explain the vitriol. But while the ESPN senior NBA reporter might have made it seem like Jordan was the driving force in James’ shoe deal decision, the 4-time NBA champion also knows Windhorst knows that’s not the case, as evidenced by his extensive reporting in his 2019 book, LeBron Inc.
In fact, if there’s anyone whose side of the story doesn’t add up here, it’s James’, as all parties involved agree that it was Reebok who offered him the most total money and a better signing bonus. If the money was close enough that James was willing to go with Nike because that’s what he preferred to wear, that’s perfectly fine. But by his own admission, Jordan’s influence was one of the reasons he wanted to wear it.
Only this isn’t — and never was — about the shoe deal.
Whether Windhorst provided the full context of the 22-year-old negotiations, what bothered me most about James’ comment on Wednesday was how personal it felt. There’s no indication that Windhorst has ever claimed to be his “best friend” publicly or privately. And claiming so only furthers the unfounded belief that the ESPN star is only in his position because he happened to go to the same high school as the greatest player of his generation.
Make no mistake: Windhorst was incredibly fortunate to be in a position to begin covering LeBron when he did and he’d be the first to admit that. Not only did covering James during his early days with the Cleveland Cavaliers provide him with a brighter spotlight than what’s afforded to most beat writers, but it also allowed him to learn the NBA from a league level, not just a local one.
But here’s the thing: Windhorst wasn’t the only beat writer covering the Cavs daily from 2003-2010, nor was that the case when he jumped to ESPN to cover James’ run with the Miami Heat. In fact, by the time “The King” had returned to Cleveland in 2014, Windhorst was already covering the NBA from a national perspective, his work having outgrown covering a single team, let alone player.
That’s not to say that Windhorst doesn’t still regularly cover James; he just happens to do so from a 1,000-foot view. Inevitably, however, Windhorst’s career will always be linked to James, regardless of how many times he goes viral for predicting a Donovan Mitchell trade or calling out Luka Dončić.
That’s not a bad thing either. Thousands of sports journalists would love to make their name as the foremost authority on the most famous athlete living. If anything, Windhorst should be commended for his willingness to spread his wings and cover the league at large when it would have been much more comfortable for him to remain in his role covering James on a day-to-day basis.
Ultimately, those who know know, which is why you saw such an outpouring of support in the sports journalism community for Windhorst following James’ unprovoked barb. Windhorst, meanwhile, refused to make the story about him, declining to take the bait even as Smith pointed out that James once said that nobody knows him better than his fellow Akronite.
As somebody who’s been a fan of James’ for about as long as Windhorst has covered him (give or take four years in Miami), I can’t help but feel disappointed that he would take such a personal swipe at somebody who’s done so much to help fans like myself enjoy his career. Perhaps he has an explanation, and if so, I’d love to hear it.
Then again, based on my litmus test, any sports media conversation I find myself having with James would likely be a short one.