Did LeBron James Take a Shot at Brian Windhorst in His Deleted Tweet?

After debuting his podcast alongside JJ Redick in 2024, LeBron James’ Mind the Game has only continued to skyrocket in popularity alongside his new cohost, Steve Nash. The pair of former MVPs are known for taking a deeper dive into the game of basketball, giving premium analysis not found anywhere else.

But not everyone believed James talking about Xs and Os would gain the kind of traction it has. The podcast’s social media page recently took shots at those who doubted the premise of the show, namely Brian Windhorst. The longtime ESPN sportswriter believes that basketball fans crave the drama that stems from the league and want it to be discussed.

As someone who has been covering the game for over two decades, Windhorst has witnessed firsthand the jarring change in coverage throughout sports media. With many shows years removed from the days of constant highlights and compelling sports talk, Windhorst believes fans simply don’t want that anymore.

“When people talk about the game of basketball, they want to talk about the drama,” Windhorst was shown saying in the clip. “If you do a full show that’s all Xs and Os, that’s not gonna be any good either. If [LeBron] sits down with Steve Nash, and all he does is Xs and Os for an hour, people aren’t gonna like that either.”

Mind The Game‘s social media team destroyed this belief by overlaying the video with a plethora of positive comments, proving that fans desire actual basketball analysis.

That claim was quickly put to rest, as Mind the Game has already surpassed 16 million views in its second season. But LeBron couldn’t let Windhorst get away with his disparaging comments that easily. The four-time champion personally took exception with the 47-year-old’s words and made his thoughts known in a quote tweet.

“Long way from being done!” James wrote. “Sucks they have to listen to 2 guys talk about basketball who know nothing about basketball! Sorry [Steve Nash].” LeBron’s passive-aggressive jab didn’t last and was soon deleted, but it was clear who his response was directed at.

Windhorst has been covering LeBron since his high school days and followed him from Cleveland to Miami by joining ESPN in 2010. But Windy has never received even an ounce of mutual respect from LeBron, who has made his distaste for the Hoop Collective host known on more than one occasion.

During his March appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, LeBron touched on several hard-hitting topics. He also shared that he wasn’t exactly fond of Windy. “I see Brian Windhorst on one of these shows not too long ago. The guy who says he’s like my f***ing best friend,” James said. “These guys … it’s weird.”

At this stage in his NBA career, LeBron is no stranger to putting doubters in their place. If he’s capable of doing it on the court, taking care of his podcast critics should continue to be easy work for the future Hall of Famer.