Mike Breen has come out and apologized after a story he shared while on air appeared to be untrue, or at least ruffled LeBron’s feathers.
While the 76ers were playing against the Kicks in preseason, Breen a shared a story from someone he ‘trusted’, thinking it would be an “interesting anecdote to show LeBron’s leadership already on display in Philly,” Breen told ESPN.
This is what he said on the broadcast:
“Somebody told me before the game that they were out ready to practice, and Joel Embiid walked out on the court a couple of minutes late, and LeBron let him hear it.”
Naturally the story was picked up online and gained a lot of traction, especially since Shams has previously reported on Embiid’s tardiness.
But, LeBron pushed back on his Instagram story.
He put up a photo of him and Embiid with the text, “He ain’t been late so stop the lies.” And a blue cap emoji.
Breen apologized for the stir the comments caused.
“I don’t know why the person who told me the story would make it up, but if LeBron says it never happened then I believe him and apologize for putting it out there.”
Breen was intending for the story to show the positive impacts LeBron was having on the team already.
“I’m so disappointed how the story was interpreted,” he said. “The whole intent was praising LeBron for already having an impact on the team’s professionalism and accountability, even something so benign as a player getting on the court for practice a minute or two late.”
He added, “For me, the fact that the teammate was Joel was meaningless. In hindsight, I should have realized the fact that it was Joel is what made it a story. I’ve always been a huge fan of Joel and feel awful that it put the focus on him the way that it did.”
Now, this story could well have been true and LeBron is just looking out for his teammate.
Guess we’ll never know for sure.