The term "playing to the crowd" has been mentioned a lot in the last few days into regard to Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert's biting comments about LeBron James' free agent departure from Cleveland.
The people of the Cleveland-Akron area, where James was raised, feel scorned. Gilbert is saying what they want to hear. And loudly.
I think the harshness of Gilbert's comments were inappropriate, and certainly didn't portray Gilbert in a good light. That's especially true considering he was behind the recruiting of Michigan State coach Tom Izzo to the Cavs. Gilbert is an MSU alum - and it wasn't well received by other MSU alums.
However, I find it equally "playing to the crowd" when Jesse Jackson came out and injected the race card into the issue. Would Jackson have defended a white American or European NBA player if the circumstances were exactly the same? I doubt it.
Seems like Jackson is also "playing to the crowd" - and it is to gain favor among African American NBA players, who are wealthy and influential and make up the vast majority of the league.
That makes Jackson every bit as much a phony as Gilbert, in my opinion.