The sports world suffered a devastating loss on the 10th of December when renowned journalist Grant Wahl passed away while covering the FIFA World Cup. Wahl had been in the business for over two decades and while he primarily covered soccer, he was very much into college basketball in his early years.
It was, in fact, Wahl who wrote that iconic Sports Illustrated cover story of LeBron James as the “Chosen One” back in 2002. It is something that not many knew despite having seen it do the rounds on social media so many times over the years.
LeBron James Reacts To Grant Wahl’s Passing At The FIFA World Cup
After the Los Angeles Lakers suffered a defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers, LeBron, who had ties with Wahl because of the time they spent together for that cover story, was asked about his passing. James spoke fondly of Wahl as he called him a great man.
LeBron James offered his remembrance of journalist Grant Wahl tonight in Philadelphia. Wahl, who died at the age of 48 while covering the World Cup in Qatar, wrote the first Sports Illustrated cover story on James – “The Chosen One” – when LeBron was still a teenager. pic.twitter.com/mZIMx1TJiB
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 10, 2022
“First of all, my condolences go out to his family. I saw his brother say something as well. Until we get further details into what transpired [I will not comment further on the nature of his death].”
“I’m very fond of Grant, and having that cover shoot – me being a teenager and him covering that, it was a pretty cool thing. And he was always pretty cool to be around. He spent a lot of time in my hometown of Akron covering me over the course of time before that cover story came out. And I’ve always kind of watched from a distance.”
“Even when I moved up in the ranks and became a professional and he kind of went to a different sport and things of that nature over the years, anytime his name would come up, I would always think back to me as a teenager and having Grant in our building down at St. V. So, it’s a tragic loss. It’s unfortunate to lose someone as great as he was and I wish his family, like I said, the best. And may he rest in paradise.”
That was great from LeBron and Wahl will be sorely missed by the sports community. He was also the one who wrote the first cover story regarding Kevin Durant for SI and was amazing at his job. He is said to have collapsed during the game between Argentina and the Netherlands but there is some suspicion of foul play, as Wahl had found himself in trouble for wearing a rainbow shirt in Qatar in support of the LGBTQ community.
He had also been incredibly critical of some of the human rights violations in the country leading up to the World Cup and this might become a serious international matter. For now, though, we just give our condolences to his family that has suffered such a huge loss.
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