Over the last few seasons, LeBron James has made a habit out of staying off social media throughout the duration of the NBA Playoffs. Just before the start of the postseason, he has taken to Twitter and delivered this message:
And then, he has disappeared (well, except for that time he "liked" a @perfectbootie post on Instagram, but...).
But it sounds like he might be thinking about doing away with his usual social media hiatus this season. After practice today, he spoke with reporters who asked him when he plans on activating “Zero Dark Thirty-23” this year. And surprisingly, he revealed that he isn’t sure if he’s going to take the same approach to social media that he has in the past.
“I don’t know,” he said. “In the past, I haven’t done it until like the night before the game anyways. So we don’t play until Sunday, so I still have a day, two days actually, to figure out what I’m going to do. But it doesn’t matter. If I’m on social media, if I’m off social media, I’m going to be locked in anyway, so I’m not worried about that.”
Hmmm…If this were anyone else, we would say, “OK,” and move on. It’s not that big of a deal. But LeBron has made headlines at least half a dozen times this season due to his social media use. There was the time he compared himself to Batman. Then, there was the time he unfollowed the Cavs on Twitter. And just this week, he appeared to get caught sliding into an Instagram model’s DMs. So why is he going to risk turning himself into a distraction during the playoffs by using social media?
Fortunately, LeBron has done a pretty remarkable job of distancing himself from whatever controversies he’s caused on social media this season. It’s one of the things he does best. But in not committing to using or not using social media, hasn’t he just created yet another story about his social media use?
Ah, man. Just start the games! Whether LeBron is on social media or not, something tells us he’s going to be ready to go.
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[via ESPN]
