LeBron James thought Daryl Morey should have been punished for his tweet about Hong Kong that upset China, according to a report.
ESPN reporter Dave McMenamin was on “SportsCenter” and talked about a meeting NBA Commissioner Adam Silver had with players in China last week after Morey’s tweet began making headlines. Two teams — the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers — were in China for exhibition games. Those involved were trying to come up with a plan for how they would address the matter.
According to McMenamin, James spoke during the meeting and pointed out what he felt was a double standard: a player would be reprimanded for tweeting something so costly to the league.
“Nearly a week ago today, in a Shanghai hotel room, or Shanghai hotel ballroom, Adam Silver got up and addressed the players, and LeBron James is one of the players who got up and spoke and said, ‘Hey, what are we doing here? Daryl Morey made these statements,’” McMenamin said Tuesday of James’ comments.
“You know damn well if a player made similar statements and caused such poor ramifications for the league, there would be some sort of league recourse. There would be repercussions the player has to pay,” James argued, according to McMenamin.
“Potentially this tweet could cost the NBA hundreds of millions of dollars, which could come out of the players’ pockets, and so that’s the double standard that was being addressed in that meeting.”
Again, here is the problem with James’ stance. He has spent the last several years making his outspokenness a big part of his identity. He has been at the forefront of the “more than an athlete” movement. His “The Shop” TV show and “Uninterrupted” business are intended to be platforms for athletes to speak their minds. James has tweeted MLK quotes about injustice.
@OldTakesExposed https://t.co/Okc9uPg5HT
— Elika Sadeghi (@elikasadeghi) October 15, 2019
He has accepted comparisons to being the modern day Muhammad Ali.
He has demanded that he and other athletes have a voice beyond basketball and will not “shut up and dribble.” He has crusaded for social justice. That’s why he is held to a high standard and expected to take the side of democracy in this situation, and why him putting money first, is incredibly hypocritical, disingenuous and disappointing. Worse, he felt a punishment or reprimand was in order for Morey for costing the league and players so much money.
James has made it clear that he prioritizes money over social justice if his finances are in jeopardy, which makes him less of the social justice warrior he has claimed and professed to be.
Here is the video:
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H/T Daily Caller
