ESPN decided to make one of the dumbest decisions of the summer and suspend Dan LeBatard for buying a billboard in Cleveland trolling LeBron James.
New billboard in Akron, Ohio reminds LeBron where his two NBA championships were won http://t.co/GQuvTsIhDt pic.twitter.com/bDPpzPp5nd
— Billy Corben (@BillyCorben) August 6, 2014
The billboard went up two days ago in Cleveland and made the rounds on social media. LeBatard took credit for the stunt, which according to ESPN is worse than saying women shouldn’t provoke men into beating them.
If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, you’ve got a good reason. Stephen A. Smith was suspended last month for saying women should do less to provoke men into beating them. He was roundly criticized even by his own colleagues and eventually suspended. That was the right call by ESPN.
LeBatard, however, is nowhere near the right call. It took ESPN four days to suspend Smith for basically saying it was a woman’s fault her jerk boyfriend beat her up and dragged her unconscious out of an elevator. It took the company two days to suspend LeBatard for something that’s actually kind of funny. Let that sink in. ESPN cares more about trolling LeBron than it does about beating women. Or at least they think it merits a response twice as fast. Either way, it’s pretty revolting move for the “Worldwide Leader in Sports.”