LeBron James reveals why he is no longer a Cowboys fan
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
LeBron James is a fair weather NFL fan who has supported a number of different teams over the years, but the Dallas Cowboys are officially off his list. We now know why.
LeBron spoke about why he no longer roots for the Cowboys during an Instagram live session with his business partner Maverick Carter on Wednesday. The Los Angeles Lakers star pointed to the Cowboys’ stance on national anthem protests.
“There was just a lot of things that were going on when guys were kneeling and guys were (exercising) freedom of speech and wanted to do it in a very peaceful manner,” James said. “A lot of people in their front office and a lot of people that ran the organization were like, ‘If you do that around here, you’ll never play for this franchise again.’ I just didn’t think that was appropriate.”
LeBron said he still likes a lot of players on the Cowboys. He mentioned CeeDee Lamb, Ezekiel Elliott and a few others, but he said he felt he “had to turn it in.” You can see the clip below, but beware that it contains a curse word:
LeBron James on why he’s not @dallascowboys fan anymore:
“Nah man I had to sit put on the Cowboys man. It just a things that were going on when guys were kneeling… [The] organization were like if do that around here you won’t play for this franchise again.”#DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/gYusCcs8KY
— Landon Buford (@LandonBuford) October 27, 2022
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has openly disapproved of kneeling. He expressed disappointment with national anthem protests all the way back in 2016 and was said to have a rule against them in place. His stance on the rule eventually changed, but he continued to express concern over how anthem protests would be received by fans.
LeBron, who is from Ohio, said he is now all-in on his hometown Cleveland Browns. Though, we have seen him go out of his way to show support for other teams over the years. We expect that to happen again at some point in the future.