LeBron James Says Race Was A Factor In Cleveland Backlash

In a recent interview, LeBron James said he thinks race was a factor in the intense backlash he received for trading Cleveland for the Miami Heat.

Last night on Wednesday's edition of "Primetime" on CNN, LeBron James told Soledad O'Brien that he thought race was a factor in the backlash to his decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers saying, "I think so, at times. It's always, you know, a race factor." When asked to clarify his statement after Thursday morning's practice session, LeBron said, "I'm not going to go back on my words. I think people are looking too into it. Maverick Carter, a 28-year-old who is one of Lebron's closest advisers, said race "definitely played a role in some of the stuff coming out of the media, things that were written for sure."A recent release of Q Scores, a polling system that measures popularity, appeared to support the notion. According to James's recent Q scores, his positive Q rating among African Americans dropped from 52 percent in January to 39 percent in September. His negative Q rating increased from 14 percent to 15 percent. Among non-blacks, James' negative Q rating went from 24 percent to 44 after his free-agency announcement. Some believe race plays a role in these ratings. During the CNN interview, LeBron also talked about the widely criticized July ESPN special that revealed his decision. "It was my idea and the people around me's idea," he said. But it should be noted that the show raised $3 million for Boys & Girls Club of America. "We own the advertising time. We went out and sold it to brands and we took every dime and donated it to charity," Maverick Carter said. Frank Sanchez, a vice president of Boys & Girls Club of America, addressed that aspect. "LeBron was using a significant moment in time to benefit young people," he said. "And a lot of people can take those opportunities and make it about them. . . . His goal was to make it about kids and make it about giving opportunities for kids."