NBA has given us some quite memorable and infamous moments which often resurface from time to time. Once again on Twitter, the awkward moment when Mark Jackson commented on LeBron James’ wife, Savannah James, has started trending. Mark Johnson made a weird remark when LeBron was facing the Warriors for the fourth time in the Finals with the Cavaliers. The context of this remark has been misunderstood for a long time.
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During the 2018 NBA Finals broadcast, Jackson debated with his fellow commentator Jeff Van Gundy about Savvanah James’ career as a high school softball pitcher. This was when people started taking his “with all due respect” comment out of context, assuming Jackson was making a sexual reference to LeBron’s wife. The comment was further accentuated because of the timing. Jackson uttered the words right as LeBron James drained a shot.
Mark Johnson once made suggestive comments toward LeBron James’ wife Savannah James
Former Golden States Warriors head coach Mark Johnson was an analyst for ESPN in 2018. Given his knowledge of basketball and experience in the league, he, alongside Jeff Van Gundy, was assigned to commentate on the Finals series between the Warriors and Cavaliers.
Right when LeBron was about to take a three-pointer shot, Jackson made a comment about LeBron’s wife, Savannah. Although he meant to speak about her softball career, it came off as a sexual remark meaning to hit on Mrs. James.The video once again resurfaced on Barstool Sports’ Twitter account. In the clip, Jackson said:
“I’d hit that out the park, no question, with all due respect.”
5 years ago today Mark Jackson had his most famous call pic.twitter.com/ndhWeL1nIx
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) May 31, 2023
It seems like Jackson meant if he were to face Savannah James’ pitching, he would hit that out of the park. Thankfully, perhaps both LeBron and his better half understood the context and never publicly commented on this issue. LeBron even favored having Mark Jackson as a coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. It’s been five years since this incident and it still remains fresh in many fans’ minds.
Mark Jackson has a history of passing awkward and weird comments
This is not the first time Mark Jackson’s comments have attracted controversies. The former Warriors coach has a history of such issues and contentions with his words. His comments on Steph Curry “hurting the game” still do not sit right with the Warriors fans. His homophobic comments on Jason Collins coming out were also widely criticized by NBA fans.
Furthermore, Jackson has also recently apologized to Nikola Jokic for snubbing him for the regular season MVP award this year. Realizing his mistake, he said,
“”One thing I live by: You make a mistake, you own it. I’m not a guy that does it for clicks or to be trending. Absolute mistake made by me. I am thinking, how did I make that mistake? You can tell I put one center, two forwards and two guards, so I wasn’t even thinking.”
Jokic finished second in the race for MVP behind Joel Embiid from the Philadelphia 76ers. In his apology, Jackson further added,
“I apologize to the Denver Nuggets. I apologize to Nikola Jokic, who is not only in the MVP discussion and deserved to be on my ballot, but he’s one of the greatest players in the history of this game.”
Perhaps some of Mark Jackson’s controversial actions and statements will never remove the plague of him being an infamous personality in the league.
