LeBron James on Monday finally spoke about the NBA’s situation with Hong Kong and China, and his comments were met with such negative reception that he felt the need to immediately issue a clarification.
In his comments, James said he felt Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey was not “educated” on the subject when tweeting about the Hong Kong protests. In followup tweets, James clarified that he believes Morey was not educated about the fallout his tweet would cause.
Let me clear up the confusion. I do not believe there was any consideration for the consequences and ramifications of the tweet. I’m not discussing the substance. Others can talk About that.
— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 15, 2019
My team and this league just went through a difficult week. I think people need to understand what a tweet or statement can do to others. And I believe nobody stopped and considered what would happen. Could have waited a week to send it.
— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 15, 2019
Regardless of what James’ point was — and he did say multiple times that Morey was not educated — he still refused to back the GM for standing up for democratic ideals. That is indisputable.
For someone who stood up for Colin Kaepernick multiple times and frequently stands for social justice and advocates for the right of players to have voices outside of sports, now saying “sometimes it’s best to keep your mouth shut” comes across as incredibly hypocritical. And it’s not hard to understand why this is now his response; his money, the NBA’s billions, and Nike’s billions are all on the line, and all parties want to protect it.
