ESPN host Dan Le Batard is temporarily without a job after the network suspended him for funding a series of funny billboards regarding LeBron James’ return to Cleveland that the network didn’t find very amusing.
Le Batard hosts the ESPN shows The Dan Le Batard Show and Dan Le Batard is Highly Questionable and is based out of Miami where he also writes a sports column for the Miami Herald. Le Batard funded the billboards and had them placed around LeBron’s hometown of Akron, Ohio as a way of welcoming back LeBron James who announced that he would return to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a personal essay published in Sports Illustrated. The billboards read “You’re welcome, LeBron. Love, Miami” accompanied with a picture of two NBA Championship rings. So far, at least six billboards have been spotted across the city of Akron.
ESPN decided to suspend the sports host and newspaper columnist because they did not like the tone of LeBatard’s “stunt” and the poor reflection they claim it subsequently left on the network. ESPN said in a released statement, “His recent stunt does not reflect ESPN’s standards and brand. Additionally, we were not made aware of his plans in advance.”
Man, is there anyone at ESPN who can hang on to their job? First, Stephen A. Smith gets booted off the network for a week for saying something really stupid and now Le Batard has to take a leave of absence. More importantly, why couldn’t this have happened to Skip Bayless?
ESPN's Dan Le Batard Suspended Over LeBron James Billboards
