Point, Click, Controversy: LeBron James and Gisele Bündchen Vogue Photo Called "Racist"

The first word that comes to mind when you see the photo of LeBron James and Gisele Bündchen on the cover of Vogue is fun. LeBron is in a half-crouched dribbling pose, basketball paused in midair above his black and white sneakers. His mouth is open as if he's yelling instructions to a teammate or just trying to look plain fierce. He's got his game face on and his hand wrapped around the delicate, aqua silk clad waist of Gisele who appears to be running towards the camera, her hair flying in the wind and a winning smile on her face as one long, lean arm is poised in the action of movement.

It's an interesting photo. Gisele looks tiny in comparison to LeBron which is a contrast. Normally Gisele looks larger than life with her lean, lanky 5'11 frame. Next to LeBron she looks downright fragile.

The photo isn't calling attention for what it was meant for, however. This issue of Vogue magazine is about fitness, the magazine was trying to exhibit examples of superstars with great bodies. They failed according to some who are angered about the photo because they said it makes LeBron look like King Kong while making Gisele look like Fay Wray: a white woman being pawed by a big, black gorilla.

Is it offensive? Fox Sportswriter, Jason Whitlock, conducted a poll on the incident: 76% said the photo was not offensive, 7% said it was offensive, and 17% said they needed a handbook defining what is and what is not racist because they have no idea anymore. Whitlock happens to be a black male who doesn't find it offensive. LeBron has also stated he doesn't find the photo offensive.

Maybe recent magazine covers have the racially-sensitive on alert after the recent Golfweek scandal in which a noose was put on the cover after an anchor's comments created a racial stir. The photographer, Annie Liebovitz, is well-known for her controversial photography and is most famous for photos of John Lennon and Yoko Ono appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone in 1980 as well as the Demi Moore nude pregnancy photo on the cover of Vanity Fair in 1991.

You can see other potential cover choices in this slideshow, but none of them are as "right" for the piece as the photo chosen. A video of behind-the-scenes footage of the shoot is here.

Perhaps the only thing to find really offensive about this "best bodies" edition is the fact that Vogue completely ignored the female athlete and replaced her with supermodels instead. What's the real controversy here?