Craig Carton and Michael Rapaport have more in common than being die-hard New York Knicks fans: They also share a strong dislike for LeBron James.
Rapaport joined Carton for the premiere of OutKick’s “The Craig Carton Show” releasing on Tuesday, where he called the Philadelphia 76ers star a player he loves to hate. Carton admitted that while he respects James’ game, his No. 1 reason for his dislike stems from an off-the-court incident in 2017.
“I’ll tell you the number one reason I’m not a LeBron guy. Number one. There’s—it’s and it’s a clear-cut number one for me, and I think I’m the only guy that views it this way, and it p—-es me off, all right. Years ago, when he was in Cleveland, and our country is going through racial issues,” Carton said on the premiere of his new show.
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“In my opinion, he invented a story that the people spray-painted racial epithets on the gate leading up his driveway.”
The Associated Press reported at the time, citing police, that unidentified vandals spray-painted the N-Word on the front gate of James’ $20 million home in Brentwood. Police said the incident was reported at around 6:45 a.m. local time and nearly three hours later property management covered it up. No arrests were ever made.
Carton said that he believed James used the event as a vehicle to include himself in the larger conversation at the time.
“And to me, I’m like, look, there’s real racial issues in our country. We acknowledge them. For a guy who’s such a prominent African-American to try to get in on the conversation by inventing something that never took place. Dead to me,” Carton said. “No one talks about it. It’s been forgotten because it never happened. No one has the balls to ask—ask him about it, and I’m like, how do we forget the fact that he intruded himself into this serious conversation about race?”
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While Rapaport shares Carton’s disdain for the NBA legend, his reason is much more personal. The actor said he had been cool with James and that they had first met during his rookie year with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
A few years later, Rapaport was with his kids, who were 5 and 7 at the time, and James spurned the kids’ request for a picture.
“I don’t know what he got up bug up his a– about Michael Rapaport. I had never said anything bad about him. Never said anything,” Rapaport said. “I brought my little kids. They were like five and seven, right? And he like Heismaned.”
After that point, Rapaport was turned off by James. Prior to the incident with his kids, Rapaport said he had never said anything bad about the then-Cavaliers star.
“I never said anything bad about him. And I think it was a rumor that a friend of mine might have a girl with a friend, and I was like, that has nothing to do with—these are little kids. And that was when I was like, ‘You’re done,’” Rapaport said.
With James joining the 76ers this offseason, Carton and Rapaport, both passionate Knicks fans, will get to see a lot more of the 41-year-old this season. The 76ers’ first game of the season is against the defending champions at Madison Square Garden.
Carton’s show launched Sept. 8 and will feature A-list guests with takes on sports and world events.
