As with all media, messaging from sports stars like LeBron James must be consumed with discretion

This is a column by Morgan Campbell, who writes opinion for CBC Sports. For more information about CBC’s Opinion section, please see the FAQ.

Last week, LeBron James, the NBA star and production company president, ended a post-game news conference by tossing a question back at reporters.

“I got one question for you guys before you guys leave. I was thinking when I was on my way over here, I was wondering why I haven’t gotten a question from you guys about the Jerry Jones photo,” James said. “But when the Kyrie thing was going on, you guys were quick to ask us questions about that.”

The photo in question was published in the Washington Post, and shows a teenage Jones, now the owner of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, among an all-white mob opposing the integration of North Little Rock High School in 1957.

Isn’t this masterful stuff from James, a former high-school prodigy who has essentially grown up in front of reporters’ microphones? Don’t you admire James’s black-belt level verbal jiu-jitsu, putting writers on defence while highlighting a glaring double standard? This is important work, forcing the media to focus on an important story instead of gossip-column sideshows.

Right?

Not really, but hold on.

This past weekend here came Deion Sanders, the two-sport superstar turned college football coach, leaving his previous job at Jackson State University for a higher-paying post at the University of Colorado Boulder. Video clips from his provisional farewell to Jackson State players (he’ll coach them in the Celebration Bowl next weekend), and his introduction to staff and players in Colorado, hit the internet immediately.

One video was titled, “The Part of Deion Sanders ‘Exit Meeting With His Team’ THEY DON’T WANT YOU TO SEE.” The implication here is that the media curated the Sanders footage to make “Coach Prime,” appear more opportunistic and less empathetic than he really is.

Two sports superstars, and two examples of the media missing the point.

Except that James used that same rant to highlight his “platform” — he has 52.5 million Twitter followers. And last Saturday’s glut of Sanders content? Much of it came from Well Off Media, the outlet Sanders himself controls. 

James and…