HOUSTON -- New York Knicks president Phil Jackson’s comments about Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James' business partners, referring to them as a posse, raised concerns from several NBA players.
James didn’t appreciate the comments, nor did his business partner, Maverick Carter.
Count Houston Rockets guards James Harden and Eric Gordon in James' corner as well.
“I’m standing with LeBron,” Harden said Sunday. “His friends or his business partners are not a posse. They work extremely hard for what they have; my friends as well. He stands up for what he believes in, and I’m in the same situation.”
Harden has several close family and friends who work on his marketing and business interests locally and nationally. They attend some home and away games, and one of Harden's close friends has moved to Houston to help.
Some have suggested the 71-year-old Jackson’s use of the word "posse" could be perceived as a generational gap.
“I don’t know what he meant, but that word wasn’t the right word,” Harden said. “So obviously you have friends who work extremely hard to run their business and be businessmen. That’s what they are, they’re businessmen.”
Gordon, like several other NBA players, also has family and friends work with him on his business and marketing interests.
“It can be sensitive,” Gordon said. “But everybody knows what Phil Jackson was referring to, him and his crew and this and that. The only problem I have with it is, you know LeBron is a business guy and you know he’s one of the best players in our league, and everybody looks up to him. It’s almost, what can you expect? It’s definitely not going to look good because he straight up out of nowhere pinpointed him. To me, there was no real positive out of what he was trying to get out of it.”