Jay Z was tapped to award LeBron James the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year and he had the perfect clap back to Phil Jackson’s “posse” comment he made a few weeks ago. Find out what Hov said and peep pics from the carpet and inside the ceremony….
LeBron James was the man of the hour at last night’s Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year Ceremony held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Jay Z was tapped to introduce the NBA Finals MVP before awarding him the prestigious award and his introduction speech has folks on notice.
The Hip Hop mogul clapped back at NBA Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson. Last month, Phil Jackson referred to LeBron’s business partners as a“posse” during an interview and LeBron took offense to it. The NBA baller said he lost ALL respect for the 11-time coaching champion.
Here’s what Hov had to say about the “posse” comment:
"We know where we come from. We do understand where we come from. The only difference between us and someone who has their MBA from Wharton or Sloan or Berkeley or Stanford is opportunity. LeBron James has provided his friends with that opportunity, and we've witnessed their development. And if we're to look up at the scoreboard, very few businessmen are better than Maverick Carter, Rich Paul, Randy Mims and all the rest of the posse behind the scenes that make it look like they're just hanging out."
Preach!
King James took center stage to accept his 2nd Sportsperson of the Year award. The NBA record breaker talked about the legends who came before him that paved the way, including the late Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown (who was in the building) and Bill Russell (who was also there).
“It’s never about the individual,” LeBron said.“It’s always about the people behind him. It’s always about the people that’s behind the camera. It’s always about the people that don’t get the credit. It’s always about the people that sacrifice what they could be doing with their lives for the better of the individual.”
Peep his acceptance speech below:
Former Sportsperson of the Year receipt and retired NFL player Peyton Manning was in the mix to show support.
We spotted Muhammad Ali's widow Lonnie Ali in the audience.
SportsKids of the Year Track & Field Junior Olympians Brooke, Rainn, and Tai Sheppard were tickled pink when they met Hov. Aww...look at those faces!
LeBron also gave them a shoutout during his acceptance speech.
DJ Khaled presented the young ladies with the SportsKids of the Year Award. Congrats ladies!
On his hosting duties, comedian/actor J.B. Smoove brought the laughs.
On the carpet...
LeBron’s queen Savannah James served HOT mom fabness in a black and white ensemble with a bit of cleavage. On Instagram, King James gushed about his wife saying, “Wowzers you're BEAUTIFUL!!! Thanks for what you've become, what you do and for simply being YOU!! And did I mention how beautiful you are?!?!?”
After hitting up Harvard University, DJ Khaled hit the carpet to show King James some love and to present the young ladies the SportsKids of the Year Award.
Special Award recipient and Olympic swimmer medalist Michael Phelps hit the carpet with his fiancée Nicole Johnson and former NFL player Ray Lewis.
By the way, after Kanye West met with president-elect Donald Trump, Ray Lewis and NFL legend Jim Brown also sat down with Trump. Interesting.
Get it girls!
Keep it "smoove" J.B.!
Backstage, retired NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was spotted snapping it up with 2016 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover model Ashley Graham and her husband Justin Ervin.
Rapper Nas, LeBron's business partners/friends Maverick Carter, Steve Stoute, Paul Rivera, Jamal Henderson were also in the mix to celebrate LeBron's success:
Congrats again King James!
Also...
The Roc Nation family, including Fabolous and Yo Gotti, linked up afterwards to celebrate at their Christmas Party at Hov's 40/40 club. Fun times!
Photos: Getty/Steve’s IG/Maverick’s IG/@kodaklens
