Misinformation around the NBA is as rampant as ever. The rise of fake news posts on social media has led to fans, analysts, and players falling victim to parody accounts on the regular. Stephon Marbury wasn’t going to allow himself to be yet another casualty as he cleared the air on supposed comments he made against LeBron James.
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“One thing I know for sure is that this isn’t LeBron’s [James] team doing this media play because he’s not on social media.”
Stephon Marbury refutes tweet about LeBron James that was written by @TheNBACentel & he’s sick of it:
Here is @StarburyMarbury‘s response:
“I’ve had this page blocked for a while. When I received the post, I said, “Okay.” I’ve said a lot of things, but I asked myself if I… pic.twitter.com/obfPzGEEir
— Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson (@ScoopB) November 30, 2024
Marbury is right about this. James did not circulate the news that could be deemed ‘derogatory’ against him. Known parody account ‘NBACentel’ is the culprit here once again. For reference, the post that they put out was Marbury calling our James’ Rookie of the Year award.
Stephon Marbury on LeBron James:
“LeBron is overhyped. He won Rookie of the Year once. That’s nothing special when you’re in the league this long.”
(Via @ChrisBHayne) pic.twitter.com/uanQ0lnLwb
— NBACentel (@TheNBACentel) November 30, 2024
Stephon made it clear that not only did he not say this but he has also had this page blocked for quite some time now. “This is a typical tactic to get people talking,” said the New York point guard.
‘NBACentel’ has been on a run over the past year when it comes to spreading misinformation. Them using a legitimate ‘X’ news account’s logo and name (NBACentral) and altering it just a tad bit has led to millions of engagements.
What makes ‘Centel’ different in terms fooling the masses is the fact that they play off stories and narratives that hover around the realm of reality. Marbury could have, potentially, made the comments that were posted by ‘Centel’ because he has criticized LeBron in the past.
‘Starbury’ hasn’t been all too kind to LeBron
Stephon isn’t exactly the world’s foremost ‘LeBron James fan’. He has taken to social media in the past several times to call out the Lakers star, whether it be for his place amongst the greats or for any accolades he’s won.
A prime example is him disagreeing with James being awarded with the 2024 Olympics MVP for men’s basketball. “No, he didn’t earn it this time,” said Marbury with his reasoning being he won it due to his past body of work rather than his actual play during the Olympics.
Most recently, Marbury spoke on the GOAT debate. He claimed that LeBron not only has not surpassed Michael Jordan but also hasn’t done enough to leapfrog Kobe Bryant. “When I look at Kobe, I’m like, ‘How is LeBron better than Jordan when he isn’t better than Kobe?’”
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Marbury just so happens to have unpopular opinions that don’t paint LeBron in a positive light. This is why the ‘NBACentel’ post about Marbury and James worked as well as it did. Because it played on a narrative that has already been established between the two.
