An unfortunate situation arose last night as LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers emerged victorious over the Chicago Bulls in the Windy City.
After the Chicago Bulls loss to the Lakers 123-107, during the post-game interview, United Center security members escorted several credentialed reporters and broadcasters for reasons not thoroughly explained. It turned out that LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers had some connection with this.
During the press conference, Bulls reporters were specifically excluded and forced out after a game that was held in Chicago while LeBron James was speaking. This seems completely unfair and needs to be investigated. It seems ironic that this problem occurred while “King James” was in town; there is no telling if he had a part in this.
Many reporters such as Darnell Mayberry, Chicago Bulls Senior Writer for The Athletic and Tony Gill, Chicago Bulls Producer for 670 The Score, just to name a couple, expressed their mistreatment on twitter.
As others have mentioned (see my last two retweets), @UnitedCenter security was on one after the Lakers-Bulls game last night, and this wasn't the first time. Media members are regularly and unnecessarily being prevented from doing their jobs, and the explanations are absurd.
— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) March 13, 2019
Media is a very important part of the NBA and is a major reason why the NBA and players have been able to expand so rapidly and reap in historically high revenues. The NBA has to look into this situation and get this fixed. Player security is important but reputable media members should not be prevented from doing their jobs.
Many players have faced constant scrutiny from the media to the point where the media feels un-trusted. Players such as Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant have even gotten in hostile arguments with the media. Although players may feel that they just want to play the game, the media creates stories and narratives for the people who are paying their hard earned money to watch the games either on television or in the arenas.
Players should know that the media aspect comes with the territory of being a professional basketball player. I’m not completely letting reporters off of the hook. There are reporters and media members who have said remarks and asked questions that are completely unwarranted and offensive. There should be mutual respect from players and the media. It’s unfortunate to see situations like this after the Bulls fell short against LeBron James and the Lakers on March 12.