We are not part of Jalen Carter’s family, we shouldn’t care where LeBron lives, and other thoughts ...

First and final thoughts …

Jalen Carter said something very sweet and very incorrect during a news conference Wednesday. In answering questions about his new contract extension with the Eagles — an extension that reportedly guarantees him $106 million — Carter paused while answering a question and mentioned all the people to whom he was grateful.

“Wanna slow it down,” he said. “First, I want to say I’m thankful to God for putting me on this earth. Thankful for the coaches, the players, Mr. Lurie.”

Then he nodded toward the media members gathered in front of him.

“Thankful for you guys, too,” he said. “You guys put out some good information, some good facts about me, stuff like that. We’re all one family.”

No, we’re not.

» READ MORE: The Eagles extended Jalen Carter ‘based on future performance,’ Howie Roseman says

Now, some of the people in the media tent at that time definitely were. Members of Carter’s actual family were on hand, as were several Eagles staff members and his friend and teammate Jordan Davis. And some other people there either don’t mind thinking of themselves as members of the Eagles’ family or have bosses who would like them to be thought of that way.

But a fair number of us weren’t there to congratulate Carter for his newly attained wealth or share in the optimism that he will fulfill his potential and become a Hall of Fame-caliber defensive tackle. We were there to listen to what he said, to listen to what Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni and Carter’s teammates said, to listen to other people in and around the Eagles’ organization said about the signing, and to explain what happened and what it might all mean. We might even point out that Carter has made some pretty big mistakes in his life and football career, and those mistakes raise the possibility that he won’t live up to such a lucrative contract, and he and the Eagles ought to be held to account for such decisions and mistakes.

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We were there to tell people what’s really happening or what we really think. We’re not going to sit on information or a story because it might embarrass or anger a coach or player or make things more difficult for the franchise. We were there to report, not to support. There’s a difference, and when you note that difference nowadays, you risk coming off like a scold, a jerk, an egomaniac, or all of those things at once. You face the inevitable barrage of complaints from those who want to be told only what they want to hear; who presume that you root for the athletes and teams that you cover and, when they find out that you don’t, insist that you should; and who can’t comprehend how someone could report or write something in good faith that was critical of those hometown heroes. Which is OK. That complaining, even the nastiest of it, comes with the job, and you have to be able to take it.

Put simply, we’re there to be as fair and accurate and honest as we can be, but we’re not part of the team. We’re not part of the family. We’re not supposed to be.

Wilt Chamberlain lived in Manhattan while he played for the Philadelphia Warriors. JJ Redick lived in Brooklyn while he played for the 76ers. If you are genuinely dismayed that LeBron James might not live in Philadelphia or any of its surrounding towns and suburbs during his (brief) career with the Sixers, please get in your car, drive it north on I-95, and, for perhaps the first time in your life, continue past the Street Road exit. There’s a whole world up there. …

Kudos to Tom McCarthy: Phillies TV play-by-play man, former radio voice of the St. Joseph’s Hawks, all-around gem of a human being. During Tuesday’s Phillies-Marlins telecast on NBC Sports Philadelphia, he delivered a brief and beautiful eulogy for Chris DiJulia, the son of longtime St. Joe’s athletic director Don DiJulia and as familiar a presence as anyone connected to the school’s athletic program. Chris, who had cerebral palsy, died Monday night. Tom even mentioned the moving tribute that former Inquirer staffer Mike Jensen wrote to Chris on Mike’s Facebook page. …

» READ MORE: LeBron James could live in NYC while playing for Philly. He wouldn’t be the first Sixer to do it.

Jeez, that whole Flyers-are-having-the-most-interesting-offseason-of-any-Philly-team thing sure fizzled out fast. …

Probable NBA schedule on Christmas. You know, to maximize viewership: