Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James found himself in some hot water for comments he made in reference to Daryl Morey and the situation in China, but he should not have been criticized for those comments.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has been heavily criticized over the past couple of days due to his comments about the China-Hong Kong situation. This all started when Houston Rockets general manager, Daryl Morey, tweeted out a picture, that stated, “Fight For Freedom, Stand With Hong Kong.”
That tweet was posted before the Rockets were going to play in China. The tweet has been deleted, but from that tweet, plenty of controversies were caused by China threatening to stop airing NBA games and cancel the preseason games in China. Neither of those things happened as all the NBA games scheduled in China were played, as they continue to stream games.
Following this controversy, Golden State Warriors coach, Steve Kerr was asked to comment on the situation between China and Hong Kong, and he had nothing to say about the situation.
That led to a reporter asking Donald Trump about Steve Kerr’s silence on this situation and he said:
"“I watched this guy Steve Kerr. He was like a little boy who was so scared to be answering the question, he couldn’t answer the question. He was shaking like, ‘Oh, I don’t know.’ He didn’t know how to answer the question. Yet, he’ll talk about the United States very badly. I watched Popovich do sort of the same thing. But he didn’t look quite as scared, actually.”"
He later tweeted, “So funny to watch Steve Kerr grovel and pander when asked a simple question about China. He chocked and looks weak and pathetic. Don’t want him at the White House!”
So funny to watch Steve Kerr grovel and pander when asked a simple question about China. He chocked, and looks weak and pathetic. Don’t want him at the White House!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2019
Steve Kerr, Stephen Curry, LeBron James, amongst others, were asked to comment on the situation between China and Hong Kong.
Curry defended Kerr and jokingly spoke about welcoming Kerr to the club, referring to the club of whoever Trump has criticized, thus far. When LeBron was asked about this situation, his initial response was he had no comment. He received criticism for not speaking out about this situation. He was later asked the question again, and he said:
"“I think when we talk about the political side, it was a very delicate situation, a very sensitive situation, and for me personally, you guys know that when I speak about something, I speak about something I’m very knowledgeable about, something I’m very passionate about. “I feel like with this particular situation, it was something not only I was not informed enough about … I just felt like it was something that not only myself or my teammates or my organization had enough information to even talk about it at that point in time, and we still feel the same way.”"
LeBron’s comments generated a lot of criticism. This is a bit of a complicated situation, and some of the criticism is uncalled for.
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People are questioning whether LeBron is ‘More Than An Athlete’ or not. LeBron built a school in his hometown, Akron, Ohio, for underprivileged kids, where they attend for free. He created the LeBron James Family Foundation, which helps positively affect the lives of children and young adults through education and co-curricular educational initiatives.
He is one of the most inspirational people of this generation, so yes, LeBron is ‘More Than An Athlete,’ not to mention him being considered one of the Greatest Athletes Of All-Time, as well as earning a lifetime endorsement with Nike. LeBron has positively impacted his community and inspired kids, teenagers, and young adults in this country throughout his career. That needs to be spoken about more often.
If LeBron were to not comment on this situation, he would be criticized for not having anything to say. So either way, people were going to find a way to try and derail LeBron.
It’s easy to criticize LeBron about the comments he made because the people who are criticizing him are not in the same situation as he is. Anyone in LeBron’s position would have responded the same way. By now, we know that all NBA jerseys are made in China, some Nike products are made in China, LeBron’s shoes are made in China, and the list goes on.
LeBron has been vocal when it comes to issues in America, including back and forths with Donald Trump. That may be a reason why people are criticizing LeBron for his response.
However, it is fair to say that LeBron knows more about the situations in his own country than he does in China and Hong Kong; therefore he could elaborate on the issues America is facing, for more people to pay attention to it.
With all this being said, LeBron has accomplished many phenomenal achievements on and off the basketball court.
As stated earlier, so it is not fair to continually criticize LeBron on his response, and claim that he is not ‘More Than An Athlete’ when the vast majority of people who pay attention to LeBron’s achievements, know that he is by far ‘More Than An Athlete’ and should be recognized as such.