NBA Tells Lebron To Keep His Kid Off The Bench

If the NBA has their way (and they usually do), we won't be seeing any more pictures like this. According to the Akron Beacon Journal, Lebron was "asked" by the league to refrain from having his son (Prince James?) on the team's bench in the future:

According to an NBA source, the league office spoke with the Cavs about LeBron James Jr. sitting in the team bench area with his dad in the closing moments of the Cavs' win over the New York Knicks on Friday. The NBA asked that it not happen again, but the league did not issue a fine or formal reprimand.

I'm actually with the league on this one. Most of us are not allowed to bring our small children to work, so why should things be any different in the NBA? Plus, just imagine the public relations nightmare that would occur if a player were to land out of bounds and flatten the poor kid. The league would never hear the end of it, and Lebron's popularity would drop to a level somewhere just above where Kobe's was during that, um, Colorado incident.

If you think it's a little far fetched that a small child could be injured while up close at a sporting event, you need to look no further than the 2002 World Series (that's baseball, not poker). Remember all the heat that Dusty Baker caught for having his infant three-year-old son hovering around home plate and nearly getting trampled? The NBA is just making sure that their global icon won't have to deal with a similar situation.