LeBron James has been in the eye of the storm for the last two decades as arguably the face of the NBA. While he’s had superstars like Kobe Bryant in the 2000s and Stephen Curry in the 2010s to share that responsibility with him, James is arguably the most widely known active NBA superstar right now.
No young stars seem like obvious candidates to rise up and take that responsibility from him, with Anthony Edwards openly dismissing it. James discussed why young stars are shying away from being the face of the NBA, blaming the state of NBA media.
“Channing Frye said it the other day too. It’s unfortunate but, why do you want to be the face of the league when all the people that cover our game and talk about our game on a day-to-day basis s*** on everybody? To have that responsibility is weird. It’s weird energy. I don’t know, Channing said it perfectly.”
LeBron on Anthony Edwards’ statement at All-Star that he isn’t striving to become the face of the NBA: “Channing Frye said it … ‘Why do you want to be the face of the league when all the people that cover our game and talk about our game on a day-to-day basis s— on everybody?’” pic.twitter.com/dNHHrzWRiT
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 28, 2025
James is referring to Channing Frye wholeheartedly supporting Anthony Edwards for rejecting the title of ‘face of the NBA.’ The same people who want to anoint Edwards as the face are the ones who want to tear him down for the next decade by comparing him to Michael Jordan.
Every great player, whether that’s Ant, Wemby, Bron, you know, Steph, this, that—do you know who they compare them to? A motherf***er from 40 years ago… Nobody celebrates these new people. So why the f**k would anybody want to be the face of this league when you’re going to get shitted on on every network for not being somebody from 40 f***ing years ago? It’s ridiculous. It is unfair.”
In the entirety of LeBron’s era as the face of the league, he’s been relentlessly compared and torn down by media members looking to make a name for themselves. NBA discussions changed so drastically during this stretch that negativity and tearing down stars started to attract a lot more eyeballs.
Social media has essentially ensured that negative voices find their way to the top by cutting through the more common praise. Players like LeBron and future faces like Edwards get a lot more praise than they receive hate. However, the hate is so eye-catching and piercing, that it’s what comes up to the top.
There will always be a media member who will attract eyeballs by being negative. While sometimes negativity is warranted, it’s become a major theme in modern NBA discourse to discredit stars as they’re building out their careers.
Jayson Tatum is a prime example. Despite being the most accomplished young superstar in the NBA, he’s consistently torn down by the media.
But this is why the saying ‘heavy is the head that wears the crown’ exists. The face will always receive this hate, it’s just a question of if they can push through it. Edwards and others aren’t concerned about overcoming it, they’d just rather not be subjected to it at all, especially when it can become unwarranted at times.
Whether or not the media gets more positive, the loud voices on social media will always penetrate. That’s what drives discussions and will continue doing so going forward. There’s nothing anyone can do to change it except be brave enough to rise to the top and deal with the negativity while also being showered with plaudits.
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