PTI Leads Off With Controversial LeBron Article, Breaks Through ESPN’s Iron Curtain (Video)

by Dan Fogarty | 6:26 pm, July 29th, 2010

Pardon the Interruption became the first ESPN entity to discuss Arash Markazi’s controversial “LeBron in Vegas” article today. The article, which briefly appeared on the ESPN Los Angeles website, painted James as a childlike megalomaniac and was pulled off the site just minutes later.

Many speculated, including myself, that ESPN either bowed to pressure from James’ camp, or made an internal decision that the article was too inflammatory to publish and would potentially hurt their relationship with James.

Here was what the Miami Herald’s Dan Le Batard, who was subbing in for a vacationing Michael Wilbon, thought about ESPN’s decision to spike the article:

“There’s the perception that ESPN is in bed with [James], and now you bring more attention to the story when you pull it,” he said, “Instead of if you had just left it alone, because it was a pretty harmless piece.”

Tony Kornheiser appeared take a jab at ESPN’s stated reasoning for pulling the article.

“I don’t know what it means to ‘properly identify’ yourself,” he said.”I don’t know who has to know you’re a writer and who doesn’t when a guy is a public figure in, what appears to be, a public place.”

Video of the segment is here: