Revisiting Molly Qerim's qualm with LeBron James: "I think he is setting up the narrative"

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ESPN First Take host Molly Qerim believes LeBron James is the master at controlling his own narrative.The Los Angeles Lakers superstar has consistently been accused of trying to shape people’s thinking with his words throughout his career, and multiple sports analysts have called out this behavior on national TV.

Molly says no

Qerim was one of those media personalities who had no issues whatsoever with calling out the King. In 2022, as the Lakers and Golden State Warriors were poised to make another deep run into the playoffs, Qerim accused LeBron of praising Curry as the league MVP to position a narrative of beating the best player in the league if the two teams happened to meet in the postseason on First Take.

“Maybe it’s a little bit of a cynic in me, Stephen A. First, we had LeBron come out, and he said, ‘I’m not 100%, I don’t know if I’ll be 100% again,’ and now he’s saying Steph’s MVP. I think he is setting up the narrative like, ‘Hey, when we beat Steph and the Warriors, and we take them out real quick, I beat the MVP,’” she said.

LeBron has a history of words

Molly, seeing through James’ comments, is one of many instances over two decades in which LeBron has been critiqued when tweeting, speaking to the media, or appearing on podcasts and sharing his thoughts.

One podcast episode, in particular, with former teammates Channing Frye and Richard Jefferson, saw the NBA community crucify LeBron for claiming that he has won the two hardest championships in NBA history.

“The one thing that I know for sure, that I’ve been a part of two teams that won the two hardest championships in NBA league history. The 2016 Cavs coming down from 3-1 vs. a 73-9 team, one of the best teams ever assembled, (against a) two-time MVP. And then what we went through in the bubble,” he said.

It continues to this day

The NBA’s all-time leading scorer hasn’t done himself any favors as the years have gone on, and his latest media venture – the “Mind The Game” podcast alongside JJ Redick, is already causing a stir despite being only four episodes in. While the podcast intends to focus heavily on basketball’s x’s and o’s, LeBron’s personal stories and opinions inevitably come through during the conversation.

The latest episode featured the Lakers forward challenging the notion that the 2011 Miami Heat were a genuine “superteam,” which understandably raised eyebrows among NBA circles throughout social media.

There’s a chance James was sincere with his comments, but there’s equally the possibility it was another attempt to control the narrative. Either way, TV personalities like Molly Qerim have never second-guessed calling out LBJ, but it clearly hasn’t seemed to deter him from ever speaking his mind.