It was bad enough ESPN let LeBron James handpick veteran TV sports journalist Jim Gray to conduct the interview for “The Decision,” the network’s hastily produced, ethically bereft one-hour primetime special.
Now CNBC reports that a “LeBron entity” – and not ESPN – paid Gray to do it.
“We aren’t privy to Gray’s arrangement,” ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys told CNBC. “He came as part of the package. We accepted Jim knowing that we would have extensive time for our people to interview LeBron, which was bulk of the show.”
Gray’s agent at IMG did not immediately return a request for comment from TheWrap.
But in a phone interview with Bloomberg reporter Michele Steele, Gray denied the CNBC report. "I did not take one penny from LeBron James or LRMR," Gray said, according to Steele. "ESPN paid for travel and my own expenses. I received a small stipend and the rest went for charity."
On Wednesday, Norby Williamson, ESPN’s executive VP who cut the deal with LeBron James to produce “The Decision,” said agreeing to the James camp's suggestion of Gray conduct the first interview on the telecast with James "was easy for us to say yes to."
He said the network has had a long relationship with Gray, who has worked at ESPN in addition to CBS and NBC and is currently doing work with Westwood One radio, Showtime and the Golf Channel.
"I'm very familiar with Jim and his work, and it was very easy to accept," Williamson said.
Yet when ESPN finally turned to Gray, 22 minutes into the broadcast, it took the veteran TV journalist six minutes of infuriating questioning (“Are you still a nail-biter?”) to get to James’ “decision.”
It was Gray who apparently pitched the idea of a special to James’ business partner Maverick Carter and William Morris Endeavor Agency co-chief Ari Emanuel.
