simmons is just an all around terrible person
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/293 ... bron-jamesAt the All-Star Game weekend in Dallas in February 2010, Simmons pitched the "LeBron's Decision" idea to James' business partner, Maverick Carter; James' agent at the time, Leon Rose; and James' advisor, William "World Wide Wes" Wesley. Simmons met with Rose and Wesley. "They both loved it," Simmons later wrote in an email. "I mean, LOVED IT." He also had a separate meeting with Carter. That weekend, Simmons enthusiastically pitched the idea to several senior ESPN executives.
Simmons pitched two ideas to his bosses: a 90-minute documentary following LeBron in his free-agency recruitment tour called "The Courting of the King" and "LeBron's Decision," in which he would pick his new team in a live show, both to be aired on ABC.
"I really think we can convince them to do it," Simmons wrote in a May 8, 2010, email to multiple ESPN executives, including then head of content John Skipper. "So my question is this: should we proceed, and if so, how should we proceed ... At the very least, I think we should meet with these guys and soon ... This could really be one of the coolest sports shows ever made if we do it correctly." There is no mention of "Drew from Columbus, Ohio," in that email.
the day after the decision, he wrote this
I blame the people around him. I blame the lack of a father figure in his life. I blame us for feeding his narcissism to the point that he referred to himself in the third person five times in 45 minutes. I blame local and national writers (including myself) for apparently not doing a good enough job explaining to athletes like LeBron what sports mean to us, and how it IS a marriage, for better and worse, and that we're much more attached to these players and teams than they realize. I blame David Stern for not throwing his body in front of that show. I blame everyone.
http://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?pa ... ons/100709
