When a Twitter user discovered that LeBron James unfollowed the Cleveland Cavaliers official account on Monday, social media went wild with conspiracy theories and rumors about James’ future with the team. The former MVP unfollowing his team on Twitter and Instagram grew into a big enough story that James was even asked about it following Monday’s 124-91 win over the Denver Nuggets.
For those reading a lot into these social media moves, you will not be disappointed with James’ answer.
LeBron couldn't even think when he was asked about the unfollow https://t.co/JmHHTpyxHX pic.twitter.com/gLBRS0SzTB
— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) March 22, 2016
A good, well thought-out answer here would immediately lay to rest the wild speculation by fans and media. However, James did anything but that. He was so unnerved by the social media question, he chose to blow off a follow-up question about his performance on the night and end the interview right there.
Of course, James could be merely expressing his frustration with what he sees as an inane question at the end of a long press conference. For most NBA players, an unfollow of anything is a non-story. But James is not most players.
Not only does he have 29 million Twitter followers, but the Cavs star has used social media to apparently subtweet teammates in the past.
It seems right to give James the benefit of the doubt here; the line of questioning in a professional setting would be tired and ridiculous to anyone. However, James is also worthy of a little more credit. He is just coming off dealing with a self-generated controversy with social media. James knows how the media game is played as well as any athlete, and not giving at least some sort of an answer almost ensures speculation will run rampant on social media and sports talk shows all over the country.
Bayless and the First Order will beat you to this. But I'm rooting for you, kid. https://t.co/KUwtspp4jU
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) March 22, 2016
James eventually provided the explanation that his unfollowing was a part of his preparation for the NBA playoffs, a process that eventually results in the superstar going dark on all social media platforms for the duration of his playoff run.
If James had nipped this in the bud, the story would have likely died in the Cavs’ locker room Monday night. However, since that did not happen, be prepared to be bombarded with speculation and innuendo on what this all means for the NBA’s biggest potential free agent and his future.
