With the team's Chief Wahoo logo facing a new round of scrutiny for being racially insensitive as the Indians play in the World Series for the first time in 19 years, one Cleveland vendor has come up with a unique twist: Making the Chief a King.
As the Cavaliers opened their NBA title defense Tuesday next door to Game 1 of the World Series, Chief Wahoo-stylized LeBron James shirts (or LeBron James-stylized Chief Wahoo shirts) were on sale in downtown Cleveland.
all for solving the wahoo problem and calling the team the cleveland lebrons but this is not really better pic.twitter.com/MRzflTzkgh
— martin rickman (@martinrickman) October 25, 2016
In short, Chief Wahoo's feather is gone, replaced with a yellow headband, and he has a diamond earring just like LeBron.
The shirt is also sold online on a website called "Just Win The Ring." The site refers to the image as "King Bronhoo."
Many consider Chief Wahoo to be derogatory toward Native Americans. This season the franchise demoted Chief Wahoo to being its secondary logo while elevating its Block C design to primary status.
"The logo -- Chief Wahoo -- is one that was troubling to me personally," former team president Mark Shapiro told SportsNet. "So when I was an official spokesman for the Cleveland Indians, I distanced myself from the fact that it personally bothered me. But we as an organization with strong support from ownership came up with the 'Block C' that you're wearing on your credentials right now. We built equity in the 'Block C.'
"We gave that alternative for people and I think that we established that as an important logo and now the primary logo for the Cleveland Indians. And so I'm proud of that."
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