LeBron James has spoken out against those who argue for freedom from communist regimes, and he has targeted police officers on Twitter. For all of those actions, the NBA has been silent.

However, let LeBron criticize the league’s scheduling protocols, and all of a sudden, the NBA finds its spine.

LeBron James launched into a Twitter tirade on Wednesday after a rash of injuries to star players forced several early exits from this year’s playoffs.

“They all didn’t wanna listen to me about the start of the season,” James said. “I knew exactly what would happen. I only wanted to protect the well-being of the players which ultimately is the PRODUCT & BENEFIT of OUR GAME! These injuries isn’t just “PART OF THE GAME”. It’s the lack of PURE RIM REST rest before starting back up. 8, possibly 9 ALL-STARS has missed Playoff games(most in league history). This is the best time of the year for our league and fans but missing a ton of our fav players. It’s insane. If there’s one person that know about the body and how it works all year round it’s ME! I speak for the health of all our players and I hate to see this many injuries this time of the year. Sorry fans wish you guys were seeing all your fav guys right now.”

The fact that James is wrong about something that he passionately asserts on Twitter will shock no one. The fact that the NBA actually grew a spine and informed him (though not by name) that he is wrong should shock everyone.

“Injury rates were virtually the same this season as they were during 2019-20 while starter-level and All-Star players missed games due to injury at similar rates as the last three seasons,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said, per Marc Stein of the New York Times.

“While injuries are an unfortunate reality of our game, we recognize the enormous sacrifices NBA players and teams have made to play through this pandemic.”

Again, LeBron being wrong is nothing new. However, unlike international relations or issues involving the use of force by the police, basketball is something he’s supposed to know about.

 Pretty pathetic.