Over the weekend, LeBron James raised some eyebrows when he complimented Mavericks rookie Dennis Smith Jr. after a game against Dallas by saying that he "should be a Knick." The Knicks passed over Smith Jr. during the 2017 NBA Draft in June in favor of Frank Ntilikina, but LeBron believes they should have gone with Smith Jr. instead. And in saying that, LeBron seemed to be taking a thinly-veiled shot at Phil Jackson for deciding to go with Ntilikina over him.
Most people assumed LeBron was, in fact, talking about Jackson. But just in case it wasn’t 100 percent crystal clear, LeBron spoke with reporters ahead of the Cavaliers’ game against the Knicks on Monday and said that, yes, he was shading Jackson with his comment about Smith Jr. He pointed out that he was not "throwing shade at Frank at all," while admitting that his remark was meant to be taken as a shot at Jackson.
"Oh yeah, it’s definitely a shot at him," LeBron said. "That’s for sure."
LeBron also went on to say that he is "not a fan" of Jackson, which is why he said what he said about Smith Jr.
"Phil was just a small piece [of the Knicks’ recent struggles]," LeBron said. "Well, he was a big piece of it, actually. I don’t have no problem with the Knicks organization. I wasn’t here, so I don’t know the insights and everything… Y’all know how they handled the Carmelo [Anthony] situation, but I’m not a big fan of Phil Jackson, though. I think you guys already know that. Let’s not—that’s the past, though. He’s not even here anymore."
While speaking about his Smith Jr. comment, LeBron also responded to Ntilikina’s Knicks teammate Enes Kanter, who sent out a tweet in response to LeBron on Saturday night. Kanter later said he couldn’t sit by and watch LeBron "disrespect" Ntilikina, which seemed to confuse LeBron.
"For Enes Kanter, who always got something to say," LeBron said. "He says… I don’t know what’s wrong with him."
LeBron’s beef with Jackson extends back to last November when Jackson did an interview and referred to LeBron’s friends and business associates as his "posse." LeBron took offense to it and is seemingly yet to forgive Jackson for what he said. And he’s clearly not even going to try to hide the hate that he feels for Jackson anymore.
