CLEVELAND Papa John’s restaurants here will pay for a stunt pulled off last week by a Washington, D.C., Papa John’s operator, who distributed T-shirts calling the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James a “crybaby.”
The T-shirts, bearing James’ jersey number of 23, the Papa John’s logo and the word “crybaby,” were given to fans at last Friday’s NBA playoff game in Washington between the Wizards and the Cavaliers. James had been complaining about hard fouls during the series, prompting Wizards center Brendan Haywood to call him a crybaby.
Faced with a possible boycott of Papa John’s restaurants in Cleveland, the chain decided to apologize by offering residents in the city a large one-topping pizza for 23 cents on Thursday.
Papa John’s, based in Louisville, Ky., also plans to donate $10,000 to the Cavaliers Youth Fund.
The Cavaliers won last Friday’s game, eliminating the Wizards from the playoffs.