The journalist immortalized the NBA legend on a Sports Illustrated cover when he was still playing in high school
James: “I love Wahl very much, it was always great to have him around in my early days”
The death of the American journalist Grant Wahl during the course of Netherlands-Argentina of world of Qatar It is to date one of the worst news of the celebration of the soccer World Cup.
Wahl, with a extensive experience covering the biggest soccer event on the planet, was in the Lusail Stadium when lost his life, and although it is true that the causes of his death have not yet emerged, some voices, such as his brother, suggest that the death could be related to an arrest that Grant himself suffered at the hands of the Qatari authorities for having worn a shirt with the colors of the flag homosexual. On the other hand, some media point to a heart attack.
The news of the death of Grant Wahl has been accompanied by a large number of reactions and messages of condolence to his family, from the President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, even the American Soccer Federation itself. But they have not been the only ones.
“I’m very fond of Grant and having that cover shoot –– me being a teenager and him covering that, it was a pretty cool thing. … It’s a tragic loss. It’s unfortunate to lose someone as great as he was.”
–– LeBron James on Grant Wahl https://t.co/Lyc8JXl0Fs pic.twitter.com/tTt35p5iyi
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) December 10, 2022
And it is that Wahl’s career and his journalistic career were linked to LeBron James, the NBA star facing his 20th season in the best basketball league on the planet. To understand the relationship that united both, one must move to early 2000s, when the young man from Akron had not yet made his NBA debut. Wahl, through ‘Sports Illustrated’, the medium he worked for at the time, decided to put a very young LeBron James on the cover with the message ‘The chosen one’, the chosen one. A prediction that over the years could not be more true.
LeBron reflects on Grant Wahl following his death.
Wahl covered James as a high schooler and wrote the Sports Illustrated cover story of “The Chosen One”
(via @SpectrumSN) pic.twitter.com/mFbgCRX9Iy
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 10, 2022
After the last Lakers game, James was asked about Wahl’s death, and this was his emotional message to a journalist with whom ‘it all started’: “My condolences are with his family. I saw his brother say something too. Until we get more details about what happened, I won’t comment further on the nature of his death. But I love Grant so much and to have that cover, me being a teenager and him covering that, it was kind of cool. And it was always great to be around. He spent a lot of time in my hometown of Akron covering me over the course of time leading up to that cover. I have always watched him from a distance. Even as I came up through the ranks and went pro and he went into a different sport and things of that nature over the years, Every time his name came up, I was always reminded of my teenage years. and have Grant in our building on St. Vincent-St. Mary. It is a tragic loss. It’s unfortunate to lose someone as great as him and I wish his family, as I said, the best. And may he rest in paradise.”
