What's Wrong With This Picture?!??!

I'm just now warming up to this whole LeBron James phenomenon. Forgive me for being about 5 years late to the party, but watching Bron Bron render your playoff tickets worthless each May tends to have that effect. Still, over time, I've come to accept and appreciate the young fella for being the embodiment of all that's good about sports. He plays hard. He respects the game. He keeps his nose clean. He speaks semi-decent English. No baby moms drama. I'm just sayin', home team hatred aside, what's not to like?

So, watching dude expand his media empire into awards galas and over-the-hill late night sketch comedy shows has been interesting to say the least. His ESPY gig was inspiring. SNL? Uhhh, not so much, but that's hardly King James' fault. When I heard that he would be the coverboy for an upcoming issue of Vogue, I didn't think too much of this since, well, let's face it, Vogue ain't exactly on AB's must-read list. But then I heard (via the fine folks at Racialicious) that this was somewhat significant since black men, or men at all (or blacks at all) for that matter seldom have such a privilege. So, I guess I was a little intrigued.

Then I saw the cover...

WTH!??!?

Look at the photo above, then look at this sh*t.


Intentional or mere coincidence?

I'm just sayin'. This is a fashion magazine, right (I don't know, I'm just assuming here)? So why is dude on the cover mean muggin' with a waifish white(ish) chick on his hip? And why the hell is he dressed in all black? And what's up with the ball? Is that posed' to be some sorta phallic symbol or something?

Ok, clearly I could be reaching here, but how many other covers of any magazine have you seen with such ludicrous covers? Why couldn't they suit him up GQ style? He's recognizable enough as a non-sports entity by now, so why the ball? And the athletic gear? And the crouching? And the noticeably uncomfortable woman? And the grimace? Sheez!

Here's a classy image. Why didn't they just use this same concept? Really.


I'm just sayin', that picture just doesn't look right. What do ya'll think?

Question: Do ya'll think the Vogue cover is a little out of bounds or is AB cynical after a week of this Rebb'n Wright jibberjabber?

Vogue calls on LeBron [Sports Illustrated]