Lost in the shuffle from the day of protest in the NFL, plus the reaction to the day of protest in the NFL, which has consumed so much of the news cycle. Was the NBA’s Media Day events, where players and coaches from all teams posed for pics and took questions from the media.
However, despite getting cold in the NFL’s shadow, the NBA didn’t fail to make some noise. Specifically, when the subject of the questions turned President Donald Trump and the anthem protests in the NFL. Cavaliers forward LeBron James was asked for his reaction, after watching all the protests on Sunday.
LeBron said, “I salute the NFL, players, owners & the fans…there was solidarity, there was no divide. Even from that guy who tries to divide us.”
Clearly, the “guy” LeBron is referring to, is Donald Trump. James posted a video on Twitter Saturday, where he accused Trump in a similar way, of “using sports as a platform to try and divide us.” Funny, because that’s exactly what most fans who have turned off the NFL, accuse Colin Kaepernick and his clones of doing. The flag and the anthem are, by nature, things that are supposed to unite us as a country. Because they encompass and represent who we are and what we stand for as a country. How in the world could it be a unifying effort, for someone to refuse to stand and pay respect to something that unifies us?
LeBron essentially accuses Trump of doing precisely what the anthem protesters are actually doing.
Moreover, Trump didn’t use “sports as a platform.” He used a podium at a political rally in his capacity as a politician, that’s his actual job. The only people who have swerved out of their lane to do something they’re not paid to do, are the Kaepernick clones.
“King James,” spared no condescension for Trump voters either, especially those in his home state of Ohio. When asked what was up with the majority of Ohio voters voting for the president, LeBron said: “Well, I mean, that’s a great question. At the end of the day, like I said, I don’t think a lot of people was educated.”
Putting aside, for a moment, the irony of LeBron mangling the English language while deriding others for their lack of education. Take a moment to sit back in wonder at how quickly LeBron has developed into a quintessential limousine liberal. People who make different decisions than he makes, can’t just have a different opinion than he has. Oh no, instead, the only logical explanation for their decision is that they’re intellectually inferior.
Throw that smug sense of arrogance in with a multi-gazillion dollar bank account, and what’s the difference between LeBron and half the population of the Hamptons? And he’s one of the leaders of the racial equality movement?
Later, LeBron was asked about how he plans to be a voice for social justice, as an athlete. James said, “My voice and what I do in my community is more powerful than getting on a knee…it’s not about the disrespect of the flag and our military, it’s about equality and the freedom to speak are things they feel are unjust.”
This reads as if LeBron is taking a swipe at the anthem protesters in the NFL. Belittling their efforts, while acting as if his are far superior. However, there’s more to this than that. The NBA has a rule mandating that all players stand for the playing of the American and Canadian anthems. While there’s certainly truth to what LeBron says, his apparent dismissal of the NFL protesters efforts, has a lot more to do with rules, than it does the protests.
What’s much more clear from what LeBron says, is that he has absolutely no clue why anyone is protesting. Where is the inequality that LeBron references here? Is it in the schools? Is it in business? It certainly isn’t in sports. A decent respect to the opinions of mankind, mandates that he tells us where this grave injustice lies. Ditto the injustice, where can that be found? In what way has LeBron faced injustice? Or, even minorities in general? If this injustice is so prevalent, then why is it always so hard to explain?
Furthermore, where does LeBron think this equality and justice exists, if not in America? Does he believe that America is nothing but a desolate police state, set adrift in a sea of democratic utopia’s? If he does, did he learn nothing while he was in China for the 2008 Olympics? How did it come about, that a protest movement begun, ostensibly, over police brutality. Turned into a catch-all, hopelessly vague, narcissistic fashion show for celebrity athletes?
I’m pretty sure they’re doing protesting wrong.
Though, in a way, LeBron’s ignorance of the world and the causes of the protests he supports are indicative of who these athletes turned activists are.
Rebels without a cause, or a clue.
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