So I got to talk with Esquire writer, Scott Raab, about his new book The Whore of Akron. Raab's book just dropped and he was kind enough to answer a few questions about it for the followers of the Laugh At LeBron campaign and the readers at A Sports Syndicate. Scott talks LeBron James, Gloria James, Maverick Carter and the great city of Cleveland. So if you dislike LeBron, the following interview will be sure to make your day.







Enjoy.
 



L@L: You touch on how LeBron has never had anyone around him that didn't need or want something from him. That everyone in his circle had something to gain by being there. Also, that he never had a father to teach him certain things, like that a man should never quit. At what point, if ever, do we stop Laughing At LeBron and start Pitying LeBron? There seems to be a cycle here...where fans loved him, then they hated him, and now I can confidently say that they all laugh at him. Do you ever see a day where we will all simply feel sorry for him?

Scott: With all due respect -- and while I think I understand your question -- I've never felt sufficiently mature or detached to laugh at LeBron. I took his betrayal of the Cavs and Cleveland personally, stupid though that may seem, and my loathing and contempt for him have yet to issue forth as laughter, bitter or otherwise -- not yet, anyway. 
 
As for pity, I have felt some of that, in an abstract way. During last season's Finals, as he choked away game after game after game after game, there was some emotion in me -- involuntary, to be sure -- akin to the mix of terror and pity I associate with theories of Greek tragedy, where the hero, gifted lavishly by the gods with potential greatness, is brought low by his inability to surmount an insurmountable flaw. The audience at such a play was meant to experience a catharsis, an emotional cleansing, by witnessing the hero's fated destruction. 
 
In LeBron's case, last season was but a single act in a career-long play. I suppose if he plays 15 NBA seasons and never gets a ring, plenty of other folks might gaze upon him with pity. Not me. Fuck LeBron. And by the way, his whole 'Those who hate me don't really know me' shtick is part of my problem with him. Millions and millions of NBA fans with no love for Cleveland or the Cavaliers came to view him as a villain after The Decision, and I've heard from dozens of folks who say that they DO know him and think he's a pompous, phony turd.
 
 L@L: In your book you say that "I knew he (LeBron) was an asshole years before he became a free agent...he is a hideously poor sportsman..." but despite all that he was "our asshole". I think what NBA fans across the league realized this passed season was that Miami is full of a bunch of bandwagoners who know nothing of the sport of  basketball. Cleveland fans were loyal, despite all of his flaws, how soon before  Miami turns on their "Chosen One"?

Scott: I was at Game 6 of the Finals, when the Mavs closed out the series. Three days later, on my way to the airport, I heard a sports-talk host discussing a possible LeBron-for-Dwight-Howard trade. It was a matter of fact conversation on  the show -- not a joke, nothing emotional, no big deal. I know plenty of Heat  fans who watched James single-handedly choke away the title and have no faith at  all in his ability to handle pressure.

L@L: When you discuss the Delonte West rumors in your book, you seem convinced that nothing happened  between Gloria and Delonte. You point out the timestamps as to when the Delonte rumor broke out and when the Rashard Lewis rumors broke out. Both were done during a time that LeBron had been failing miserably on the court. You mention Maverick Carter as being the actual culprit behind these rumors. Now, can you  tell us, what does that say about a man like Maverick Carter and what does that say about LeBron James, who would have had to have green-lit these  rumors?

Scott: Early last season, I was told by a writer much more experienced and connected than I am that he'd heard -- but had not confirmed -- that Carter was the one floating the Delonte rumor during the Cavs-Celtics series. I dismissed this as nonsense until the Rashard Lewis stuff started during last year's Heat-Mavericks  series. I now have zero doubt that Maverick Carter is the source of both non-stories. His reckless stupidity isn't news to anyone who witnessed The Decision or is aware of the pending legal action over an old LeBron pendant. I don't know if this is stuff that LeBron approves in advance, or if LeBron even knows that his friend and manager is the source.

L@L: Talk to me about Maverick Carter. Is he in fact, the cancer eating at LeBron James?

Scott: Maverick Carter dropped out of college when Nike offered him a job. Nike offered him a job hoping he'd help deliver LeBron. Carter's Nike mentor, Lynn Merritt, is a fairly constant presence around James and Carter, and whether Merritt serves Nike's best interests or LeBron's is an open question, but the point is that Carter, like LeBron, is still a wannabe; James wants to be a  champion, Carter an urban mogul. Despite the public praise Carter gets for his business skills, I've heard many folks dismiss him as a fool, a tool, a small-town rube who's way over his head.

L@L: You were there December 2nd when LeBron returned to Cleveland. The emotions running through that arena must have been heavy and mixed. When that woman supervising your section broke down in tears, thanking you for standing up for Cleveland.....what  was going through you mind? What is it like to carry the great city of Cleveland on your back?

Scott: She started crying, I started crying...I felt a little ridiculous, actually. I've been writing about Cleveland in various ways for many years in GQ  and Esquire, but very, very few people in Cleveland paid much attention to any of it. My first GQ story, in 1992, was a long feature about the rise and fall of CSU's Kevin Mackey. That piece wound up in Best American Sportswriting, but it got no play at all in Cleveland. I got a little notoriety in 2007, after LeBron wore his Yankees cap to the Jake and I wrote about him as 'worthless scum' on esquire.com; the response from Cleveland was full of scorn for me, not James. 
 
My experience since The Decision has been profoundly different, of course. Had James declared his free agency like any other athlete in any other sport has  done since the advent of free agency, I would not have been offered a book deal  by a major publisher. Were I a different kind of writer, my fellow Cleveland  fans wouldn't feel so strongly about what I've said and written. I've never felt  for a second like I was carrying Cleveland, ever. Truth is, the great  city of Cleveland has been carrying me my whole life.

L@L: In your book, you mention that LeBron was already a "pro" when he came into the league. Can you talk more about that and would you agree that it's fair to say that LeBron is nothing more than a business man who happens to be very athletic?

Scott: It's not news that the world of basketball, beginning at the AAU level, is full of men looking to exploit young ballers for every dime they can get. LeBron just happened to be the Holy Grail, Golden Fleece, and Lost Ark of that  world. By the time he left high school, he knew that every decision facing him  was a business decision, no more, no less. Whatever fables fans told themselves and were fed by the media, for James and his circle of friends, family, and advisers, the only story that mattered was How Much.
 
The part of the story that seems odd, at least to me, is that for all his athleticism, James really doesn't seem to work that hard on the most important part of his business: his game. Oh, he talks about how hard he works, but he seems to work harder at talking shit, and tweeting shit, and making commercials, and jetting around the world, and keeping his name and face front and center, than he works at becoming better at his craft. Fans remember the 'not three, not  four...' quote but tend to forget that he also talked about how easy winning it  all was going to be. Unlike every other athlete playing any pro sport anywhere  in the world, LeBron James seems to believe that becoming a champion is easy. Which tells us all we need to know about why he hasn't won squat in the NBA.

L@L: Anything you'd like to say to the folks following the Laugh At LeBron campaign?

Scott: To everyone at L@L: Thanks for reading this, first of all. Second: Buy the book. All of you. Not just because it's a good book -- I'll give you your money back if you wind up feeling otherwise -- but because it's also an honest look at fanhood during an era of complete corporate bullshit, and a love letter to a great American city.
 


Folks, you can pick up a copy of Scott's book The Whore of Akron: http://amzn.to/sZfvfQ or at any major book store.
And don't forget to follow Scott Raab on twitter: @ScottRaab64