“He's a part owner of Red Sox”: NBA fans roast LeBron James for hypocritically calling Boston fans racist before acquiring FSG stake
Earlier this year, LeBron James reportedly increased his stake in Fenway Sports Group (FSG), an investment group with ties to major sporting franchises around the world. This is one of the many endevaors of James in the world of business, with the ultimate goal being ownership of an NBA team one day.
LeBron is currently a minority owner in the Boston Celtics thanks to his role as an FSG investor. FSG's portfolio listing shows that the investment group owns several teams.
Some of the names in its portfolio are NASCAR's RFK racing, the Major League Baseball team: the Boston Red Sox, the NHL team: the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the world-famous Liverpool Football Club.
Despite getting associated with FSG several years back and increasing his stake in the group this year, LeBron has had some fiery words regarding the city of Boston over the years. James, who has played against the Celtics in Massachusetts several times, ripped the city on The Shop for being racist:
“Cause they racist as (expletive). They will say anything. And it’s fine. It’s my life, (expletive), I’ve been dealing with it my whole life. I don’t mind it. I hear it. If I hear somebody close by, I check them real quick, then move on to the game. They’re going to say whatever the (expletive) they want to say.”
With LeBron increasing his stake in FSG, fans had some funny reactions to his comments.
More on LeBron James' comments about Boston and what other NBA players have said
In addition to his initial comments, LeBron James notably doubled down on his comments. He explained he had a drink dumped on him as he was walking through a tunnel. In addition, he alleges he saw a "f**k LBJ" shirt in the team shop at TD Garden.
In a follow-up interview on Spectrum Sportsnet, James added to his previous comments, saying other players dislike Boston as well. Based on what other players have said over the years, James may not be speaking out of turn regarding the feelings of other players.
James' former teammate Kyrie Irving explained to media members in 2021 that there's a quote-unquote subtle racism in Boston that can't be ignored. He said,
"Hopefully we can just keep it strictly basketball, you know there's no belligerence or any racism going on, subtle racism, and people yelling s--t from the crowd. But even if it is, it's part of the nature of the game and I'm just going to focus on what we can control."
Irving added,
"... I'm not the only one that could attest to this. But it's just... you know... it is what it is. The whole world knows it."
Despite this, it looks like James has no issues with investing in Boston sports through FSG.