During the Tuesday ESPN2 “First Take” broadcast, co-host Stephen A. Smith accused New York Knicks President Phil Jackson of perpetuating the black stereotype when he referred to Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James’ inner-circle as his “posse” last month.
According to Smith, Jackson calling James’ group his “posse” makes him “guilty” of not being fine with black people being at the top, which is something many black people suspect that white people think, he said.
“Do you want me to tell you what [Phil Jackson] is really, really guilty of? He’s guilty of what a lot of black folks suspect about what white folks think of us — you’re comfortable with us being in the show. but you ain’t comfortable with us owning it. LeBron James owns the LeBron James brand. LeBron James may be worth close to $1 billion. LeBron James and that crew of his that you call ‘posse,’ and you did so in a derogatory fashion with derogatory intent, albeit probably not racial, but it might have been, we don’t know,” Smith explained.
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