LeBron James Discussion: Not Returning To The Lakers

Nobody wins this

 

Some people just waiting for any opportunity to pile on

 

Still, a better response than Tim Cook, Blizzard or NBA. Biggest joke in all of this... Apple. Freakin hypocrites.

 

To follow up on my previous comments ... the reality is that I’m faker than Lebron. As much as I want to care about Hong Kong idealistically, I’m not actually doing anything about it and in the grand scheme of things unfortunately the truth is that I care more about the Lakers than the HK situation. Lebron came to the Lakers when he didn’t have to, and so when it comes time to calculate how I feel about him, that far outweighs any hypocrisy he may demonstrate for social issues. I’ll probably forget his comments in a week and outwardly do what I can to deflect from what Lebron said and try to defend him in public circles. I’m obviously part of the problem, and I DONT have millions of dollars on the line. I’m not really in position to judge the people whose generational wealth is actually affected by this issue.

 

Ordinarily, I would probably fully be on that side of the fence as no doubt the NBA is concerned with its financial interests in China. But I think the situation for the players that were actually over there is different here particularly because of how this all unfolded.

They got on the plane to head to China thinking they are going to play a couple of exhibition games, sign autographs, etc. If I'm not mistaken, this all went down while they were still on the plane. So they landed to a situation where everything is being canceled, no fans can show up to greet them when they arrived, murals being painted over, merchandise pulled from stores, etc.

I can very easily see how that would scare and concern anyone. Especially given that people sometimes take their families with them on these kinds of trips.

I also think its unfair how some in the media this morning are discussing the conditions in China but outright dismissing the thought that those same conditions could cause our players to be afraid and concerned for their safety.

Were they being overly paranoid? Maybe. But I get it. And I really do think that's at the core of what LeBron was trying to say. I may be giving him too much credit here, but that's just how I took his comments and I still do.

 

Its tough especially when most of us have so little power or influence over these kinds of situations. I don't think its fake. It's just the unfortunate reality of it. All we can really do is try to raise awareness of various issues but even then, its inevitable that there will be things that we just don't know much about, etc.

Gotta just do the best we can.

 

I gotta think the players also resent the fact that they are having to answer the questions instead of Morey.

 

And this is why sports should stick to sports and stop getting involved in politics... seriously, not sure why the nba doesn’t have a rule about making public statements, etc about anything politica

 

so harden kisses china's a** in a press conference: crickets.

lebron (unsuccessfully) tries to straddle some sort of line: witch trial!

 

I agree! What’s been Bron’s whole platform: player empowerment/More than an athlete. Unfortunately in a capitalist climate, that’s money. You can’t flex without it.

Bron wants people that use to be him to come out those impoverished systems and be “more”. Become entrepreneurs, become leaders in industry, look for those that used to be him to make it out and have control in living their lives.

It explains him building schools/foundations and going against police brutality. Future athletes (and to a lesser degree, his kids) will come out of this like he did and use their platforms to shed light on things they been exposed to and are well-rehearsed in.

Even though democracy is globally relatable, he can’t really relate to HK in that same scope. And if he ever does, he’s gotta make sure he knows the ins and outs of that situation, otherwise you know Nike will go animal style on him. He stands to lose a lot if not tackled in the appropriate manner.

Bron ain’t commenting on Israel vs Palestine, India vs Pakistan, Brexit, forcing big Pharm to fight cancer and helping local farms fight big brother Monsanto...he’s fighting a front that he knows and he grew up in. If you lose the China market, it’s not just him, but it’s all his contemporaries that suffer. The salary cap takes a hit (see AD), rooks on their meager deals trying to sell their brand take a hit (see Kuzma) and athletes in general take a hit in flexing within an overtly racist system (see players vs “owners”/NCAA, # of black execs vs white, etc.) #MoreThanAnAthlete

Anyways, I’m not a fan of what Bron said, but I will give him time to clarify on them and/or make a firmer stand later. Till then, haters gonna hate.

 

You bash Bron... where's Kobe?

 

I think it partly also has to do with the fact that LBJ is very vocal and socially woke on domestic politics and James Harden not so much. Hence the outrage over the hypocrisy. I don’t know, tough situation for the NBA and players like LeBron because there are competing interests in play. I would say stand up for freedom over profits, but humans are human.