During last Friday’s episode of HBO’s “The Shop” LeBron James compared NBA and NFL team owners. During that discussion he said that NFL owner’s have “slave mentality.”
It turns out that not everyone agrees with that, including Chargers tight end Antonio Gates. He was asked about LeBron’s comments and says his relationship with his team owner has been “phenomenal.”
Via TMZ Sports:
“I don’t know all the owners — I know my owner. And, my relationship with my owner has been phenomenal. And, it’s sports. You know what I mean? You get paid to play.”
Gates added, “We all know what we sign up for.”
As for the differences between the NBA and the NFL … Antonio says he does hope one day his league can guarantee contracts like LeBron’s — but he still doesn’t see NFL owners having a “slave mentality” at all.
“A lot of us make a really good living, man, being able to support our families at the same time. So, it is what it is.”
LeBron’s comments seemed a little off base when he first made them and now a guy who is in the league confirmed it. Is the NFL perfect? No it’s not, but there are plenty of players making a ton of money to play a game.
