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LeBron James knows a bit about being a young phenom with all kinds of hype, fame and fortune at a young age. He's also handled that fame incredibly well, even when there were reports of a bit of immaturity early in his career. James is a professed Browns fan that plays for a Cleveland sports team, and has had a personal and professional relationship with Johnny Manziel. Given the off the field struggles Manziel has exhibited of late, it makes sense that James would be asked about the troubled quarterback.
His first response, as relayed by cleveland.com, is one of concern:
"I think it's more concern for him individually," James said Wednesday before the Cavaliers' shootaround, in preparation for a road game against the Wizards. "And I'm not quite sure, I don't know all the details on it, I really kind of even haven't been all up on it, but I've heard a little bit of it and it's just a distraction for not only himself but for everyone that's around him, including family, people that represent him, the people around him.
"And he'll figure it out at some point, we all hope," James said.
Manziel is under fire for missing a mandatory meeting on Sunday morning as part of the Browns compliance with the NFL's concussion protocol, and then being unavailable when the team tried to reach him. There are reports that Manziel may have been in Las Vegas partying as "Billy", with a blonde wig and fake mustache. That's a real sentence that I just wrote for a basketball website. It seems as though Manziel even went to the trouble of loading a picture to Instagram as though he were really just at home at his apartment hanging with his dog.
James added that "I don't go to Vegas much, but when I do, I'm myself."
It's a pretty important point. If you have to hide your whereabouts from your employer or the world, maybe it's not great. Certainly not great to be in Vegas if you have a 9:00 am work meeting 1800ish miles away the next morning. Go Browns.