While this is all of course incredibly stupid and incredibly reprehensible, I also have to point out the author's disrespect:
one of the greatest basketball players in history
One of? Jordan is the undisputed greatest of all time and Kareem is the only one who's even near his level, but it's not really arguable between them.
Are they trying to look scared shitless to undermine the whole farce, or do they actively want to create a martyr? Those are the only two options that don't require a room temperature IQ.