NEW ORLEANS: LeBron James has remained steadfastly protective of his children and keeping them out of the media spotlight as much as possible. The James family pulled back the curtain ever so slightly now that his two sons, LeBron Jr. and Bryce, are featured in a billboard campaign for the Sean John clothing line.
Both boys are joined by Carmelo Anthony’s son, Kiyan, and the son of a Sean John executive who is close friends with the James boys. There is one billboard up already in downtown Cleveland in what is expected to be a national ad campaign for the holidays.
“It’s a proud moment for our family to be able to see my sons represent their family like that,” James said. “To be able to be on a billboard and have the look and the smile and the pizazz that they carry, that I see every single day in our household.”
It’s difficult to keep the children shielded when their father is one of the most popular athletes on the planet, but James is trying. LeBron Jr. turned 10 in October, and Bryce is now 8.
“Obviously, they’re some handsome young men and there are going to be opportunities for them to do some things,” James said.
“As a family we will look at things and if we feel like it’s best for the families, best for the boys, we’ll do it.
‘‘And if it’s not then we won’t.”
Slowing down
The Cavs’ offense has been grinding into a rut in recent games. Their scoring dwindled in each of the previous four games prior to Friday, bottoming out with a season-low 85 points scored in Tuesday’s loss to the Washington Wizards.
Coach David Blatt identified two areas for the bulk of the problems: turnovers and shooting. The Cavs totaled 39 turnovers in their past two games and were shooting under 40 percent in their last four games prior to Friday.
“Those are the two main things. And obviously we went through a couple of weeks here without practice, without a chance to sort of work on things,” Blatt said. “Get our ball movement and body movement back in line.”
New commercial
James and Kia took a refreshingly honest approach to their latest ad campaign, featuring James reading real tweets from people questioning whether he actually drives a Kia.
James doesn’t believe it’s a problem that people are skeptical and insists he drives his Kia sometimes — including to some home games.
“I have a couple cars and I love driving mine,” James said. “It’s pretty cool when you can drive something sometimes that no one thinks you’re in. So I can be away from everybody, no one’s going to think that’s going to be me in that car, but it’s a great car.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that Kia sought permission from the Twitter users before using their tweets in the commercial. Kia is trying to break into the luxury car competition with the K900, which James owns. Prices on the K900 begin at $55,000.
“It’s not about the car, it’s about the partnership that I have with Kia, and them being a title sponsor in the NBA,” James said. “They do so many things around this league and I am happy to be a part of it.”
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs.