LeBron James is no stranger to dropping his opinion on matters on and off the hardwood floor. Throughout his emergence of being one the most recognizable faces in sports, James has made it clear that he doesn’t stand for injustices of any sort.
Last year, the Cavs star found himself going against comments of Donald Trump after the President hastily rescinded an offer for a White House visit to the Golden State Warriors. Trump’s decision came after Warriors’ star point guard Stephen Curry wavered on his decision to visit 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue following the team’s NBA championship win.
“Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team. Stephen Curry is hesitating; therefore invitation is withdrawn!” Trump tweeted. The comments by Trump promoted Lebron James to call the President a “bum.” The comments drew criticism, but the Cavs star revealed he had no regrets making the comments in the subsequent post-game interview.
In an interview with UNINTERRUPTED, accompanied by All-Star teammate Kevin Durant, Lebron James addressed the incident and revealed why he took such offense to the actions of the president.
At the 5:20 minute mark, when asked on whether the political climate has affected the use of his platform as an athlete, James answered, “When I was growing up there was like three jobs that you looked for inspiration, or you felt like these were the people that can give me life. It was the president of the United States, whoever was the best in sports and then it was like the greatest musician at the time.”
While he believed that jobs like the president were untrainable as a youth, James pronounced that he grabbed inspiration from the office. He went on to say that "we cannot change” the words that flow out of Trump’s mouth, but as athletes "we can continue to alert the people that watch us, that listen to us, as this is not the way.”
Source: youtu.be
