Brian Windhorst finally has a theory for why LeBron James took a swipe at him on ESPN’s airwaves, and it involves a doctored photo.
Appearing on The Press Box with Bryan Curtis, Windhorst addressed LeBron’s unprovoked shot at him during his March 2025 appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, in which LeBron dismissed ESPN’s senior NBA reporter as a “weird” guy who goes around claiming to be his best friend.
“He was just angry at Stephen A., and he had seen me say something on First Take,” Windhorst said. “I’ve never once said I was his best friend, ever. I’ve never, ever claimed to be a LeBron expert. Many, many people have attached that to me. I’ve never said those words — I don’t think — and if I did, it was not a sincere way to say it. I’ve never seen myself as anything but a journalist covering a great athlete.”
From there, Windhorst floated what he believes may have been the actual trigger. Whenever he appeared on The Pat McAfee Show, there was a running joke about Windhorst being LeBron’s high school teammate, which, technically speaking, was never true. Windhorst did attend St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, the same school LeBron attended, but he was seven years ahead of him. As part of the bit, The McAfee Show created a doctored photo of Windhorst’s face plastered onto one of LeBron’s high school team pictures. Windhorst’s theory is that LeBron saw the image and may not have understood that it was The McAfee Show that made it, not Windhorst himself.
“I do wonder about when he saw that picture if he thought I put that picture out or something,” Windhorst said. “I doubt he had watched The McAfee Show and seen my appearances and seen how Pat and the guys. They have conceits that they joke around with. I doubt he was aware of that. I’m not sure he knew the origin of it.”
Appearing on The Press Box with Bryan Curtis, Windhorst addressed LeBron’s unprovoked shot at him during his March 2025 appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, in which LeBron dismissed ESPN’s senior NBA reporter as a “weird” guy who goes around claiming to be his best friend.
“He was just angry at Stephen A., and he had seen me say something on First Take,” Windhorst said. “I’ve never once said I was his best friend, ever. I’ve never, ever claimed to be a LeBron expert. Many, many people have attached that to me. I’ve never said those words — I don’t think — and if I did, it was not a sincere way to say it. I’ve never seen myself as anything but a journalist covering a great athlete.”
From there, Windhorst floated what he believes may have been the actual trigger. Whenever he appeared on The Pat McAfee Show, there was a running joke about Windhorst being LeBron’s high school teammate, which, technically speaking, was never true. Windhorst did attend St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, the same school LeBron attended, but he was seven years ahead of him. As part of the bit, The McAfee Show created a doctored photo of Windhorst’s face plastered onto one of LeBron’s high school team pictures. Windhorst’s theory is that LeBron saw the image and may not have understood that it was The McAfee Show that made it, not Windhorst himself.
“I do wonder about when he saw that picture if he thought I put that picture out or something,” Windhorst said. “I doubt he had watched The McAfee Show and seen my appearances and seen how Pat and the guys. They have conceits that they joke around with. I doubt he was aware of that. I’m not sure he knew the origin of it.”
4 months ago
