Buzz Bissinger’s Most Difficult Interview? LeBron James’s Mom
"The biggest pain in the ass I have ever dealt with was his mother..."
Pulitzer Prize winning author Buzz Bissinger has likely been through most professional locker rooms in America. Places where ego and ignorance meet at the loftiest of intersections. And that's just the athletes. Never mind the coaches who purposely withhold information only to tell reporters what misinformed creatures they are.
Despite 30 years of those situations, Bissinger says his toughest interview wasn't an athlete. It was an athlete's mother. When asked on the Dan LeBatard radio show if Gloria James is a problem in LeBron's life, Bissinger responded with a memorable and detailed rant that likely disqualifies him from any future interviews with her:
"I think his mom is a problem in his life. It'll kill me for saying that because he's totally devoted to his mom and I respect that and I understand that. I will tell you this. The worst interview I've ever done. The biggest prima donna I have ever dealt with. The biggest pain in the ass I have ever dealt with was his mother. His mother was impossible to interview even though LeBron said, 'He's doing a book. He's doing it for me. I have control. Talk to him.'"
"I had to interview her at the beauty parlor after she canceled it eight different times. She said, 'You gotta write out the questions.' Well, then I knew I was sunk. I gave her eight questions, innocent questions. She rejected four. She revealed nothing. And then this has never happened in 30 years of interviewing people a lot more important than Gloria James. She says, 'I wanna listen to the tape.' As if what, I doctored it? I mean, give me a break. She thinks she is Queen LeBron. She is not."
Bissinger was referring to an interview he was trying to conduct for a book called "Shooting Stars." A book he "co-wrote" with LeBron James in 2009 in a deal brokered by a literary agent. Bissinger now calls it the least favorite of those he has written.
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