Update 09/26/2020 1:25pm:

Previously, LA Sheriff Alex Villanuevea called out LeBron James, telling him to match the reward for the gunman who shot and wounded to LA County Sheriff Deputies in Compton. Since then, Villanueva was met with backlash, with Vanessa Bryant going as far as calling Villanueva for his actions. Now, James has responded to the Sheriff.

James said “I’ve never in my 35 years ever condoned violence. I never have. But I also know what right is right and what wrong is wrong. I grew up in the inner city and the Black community in what we call ‘the hood’ or ‘the ghetto,’ however you want to picture it. I’ve seen a lot of accounts first-hand of Black people being racially profiled because of our color. I’ve seen it throughout my whole life. I’m not saying that all cops are bad. Throughout high school and things of that nature, and I’m around them all the time, and they’re not all bad.”

When asked about Villanueva, who asked James to match a $100,000 reward for the shooting of the police officers, James said “I have zero response on the sheriff.”

source: NBC Sports

Original 09/14/2020 11:45pm:

On Monday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva challenged Lakers' star, LeBron James, to match the reward for the gunman who wounded two LA County Sheriff's deputies. Villanueva said the reward money reached $175,000 through a combination of donations from the county totaling $100,000, and two private donors came up with the $75,000. 

“This challenge is to Lebron James. I want you to match that and double that reward,” Villanueva said on KABC Radio's The John Philips Show. “I know you care about law enforcement. You expressed a very interesting statement about your perspective on race relations and on officer-involved shootings and the impact that it has on the African-American community." 

“And I appreciated that,” Villanueva continued. “But likewise, we need to appreciate that respect for life goes across all professions.”

LeBron has been one of the most vocal professional athletes calling out police violence in wake of the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor - and most recently the shooting of Jacob Blake. 

Villanueva concluded with, “Let’s see what he does,” adding, “I’ll be very curious to see what his response is, if any.”

Source: kabc.com