LeBron James Says He Won't Meet with Phil Jackson After 'Posse' Remark

Although the Cleveland Cavaliers will travel to the Big Apple this week to take on the New York Knicks, LeBron James rejected the idea of meeting with Knicks president Phil Jackson to discuss Jackson's use of the word "posse," according to ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin.

In a November interview with ESPN.com's Jackie MacMullan, Jackson said the following regarding LeBron's departure from the Miami Heat:

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It had to hurt when they lost LeBron. That was definitely a slap in the face. But there were a lot of little things that came out of that. When LeBron was playing with the Heat, they went to Cleveland and he wanted to spend the night. They don't do overnights. Teams just don't. So now (coach Erik) Spoelstra has to text Riley and say, 'What do I do in this situation?' And Pat, who has iron-fist rules, answers, 'You are on the plane, you are with this team.' You can't hold up the whole team because you and your mom and your posse want to spend an extra night in Cleveland.

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Jackson's use of "posse" to describe LeBron's business associates prompted the four-time NBA MVP to reconsider his feelings on the former Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers head coach, per McMenamin:

LeBron further explained why he took offense to Jackson's wording, per Jordan Heck of Sporting News: 

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To use that label, and if you go and read the definition of what the word 'posse' is, it's not what I've built over my career. It's not what I stand for. It's not what my family stands for. And I believe the only reason he used that word is because it's young African-Americans trying to make a difference.

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James commented on the situation again Monday night after shooting down the idea of meeting with the 11-time championship-winning coach, according to McMenamin:

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Didn't affect me, just know how much further we still have to go and how far we still have to go as African-Americans, even in the light of today. For me, I've built my career on and off the floor on the utmost respect, and I've always given the utmost respect to everyone -- all my peers, people that's laid the path for me and laid the path for coaches, players, things of that nature.

I've always given respect to them, and it's always, like I told you before, it's always shade thrown on me, so. It means we got a lot more work to do, myself and the team. We've got to continue to protect each other and continue to just be as great as we can be.

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Jackson has yet to publicly discuss his use of the word "posse."

The 14-5 Cavs ended a three-game losing streak with a win over the Toronto Raptors on Monday, and they will look to halt the momentum of the recently surging Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.

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