ESPN pulled unflattering story about LeBron

American sports network channel ESPN recently published an unflattering story regarding NBA star LeBron James on its website, but pulled it shortly after.

The article, written by ESPNLosAngeles.com columnist Arash Markazi, relayed a story about LeBron's Las Vegas adventures, which included shameless flirting with waitresses and fake dribbling through his hotel lobby.

Markazi purportedly wrote "the more you hang around James, the more you realize he's still a child wrapped in a 6-foot-8, 250-pound frame".

Markazi went on to describe an episode that occurred during LeBron's stay in the casino-filled city. In a nightclub, surrounded by friends, family and security, the new Miami Heat star expressed discontent when a male waiter served his table. He instead called for a female waitress with a titillating outfit.

Shortly after the story was released, ESPN had regrets and withdrew it.

This was not the first time ESPN conveyed unflattering stories about the basketball player. Don Ohlmeyer, a journalism watchdog, said "ESPN made some major mistakes handling the entire affair. They should never have traded (advertising) inventory for access or allowed a subject to select his inquisitor".

ESPN later admitted that the story never should have been published.