LeBron James offers seemingly absurd take on Brittney Griner

Dec 9, 2021; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (6) warms-up prior to the game against the Memphis Grizzles at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia for nearly five months, and LeBron James feels the United States government has not done enough to bring her home.

In a preview for the upcoming episode of HBO’s “The Shop,” LeBron is shown sharing some of his thoughts on the Griner situation. While it will be interesting to hear the full context when the episode airs Friday, James questioned whether Griner should want to return to the U.S. at all.

LeBron James says if he were Brittney Griner, he would question if he even wanted to go back to America anymore. pic.twitter.com/LKtEwvyryr

— Ohio’s Tate (@BarstoolTate) July 12, 2022

“Now, how could she feel like America has her back?” LeBron asked. “I would be feeling like, ‘Do I even want to go back to America?'”

That is probably only a portion of what LeBron had to say about the topic, but HBO chose that snippet for a reason. And if James genuinely believes that Griner should be questioning whether it is in her best interests to return to the U.S., that seems just plain absurd.

The U.S. government has been working with the Russian government on a possible resolution with Griner. That is reportedly the main reason Griner pleaded guilty to drug charges last week. The White House had released a statement the day before saying they are working on bringing Griner home. All of that probably happened before LeBron made his remarks.

Regardless, the Los Angeles Lakers star sounds out of touch. If he thinks Griner would be better off in a different country, which one? Some would argue that Griner is receiving special treatment from the U.S. government after she admitted to breaking the law in another country. Is LeBron suggesting Griner should prefer to live in a country where you can be detained for months over a simple drug violation?

James is not the only person who has sounded off on Griner’s behalf, but that snippet of his comments seemed asinine.