Times LeBron James transcended basketball: The Hate Crime
On a Wednesday morning in 2017, LAPD reported to USA TODAY Sports that the James family had fallen victim to a hate crime at their Brentwood neighborhood estate.
Details revealed that someone had spray-painted a racial slur on the fence of the family’s California home. LeBron was a Cavalier at the time and wasn’t home during the incident, but spoke positively and shed light on his thought process as a person of color and father.
“Racism, we know, exists. You try not to put yourself in a position, for me as a father, I try to give my kids the blueprint on how life is gonna be. But at the end of the day, I can only tell them so much, and they have to go out and live it themselves. For me, I just try to be respectful, for one, respectful to others, and I feel like if you do that consistently, then I believe the karma will come back to you.”
Despite being the NBA’s biggest star and a multi-million dollar athlete and businessman, the incident showed that even celebrities like James still face discrimination due to the color of their skin.
Although this incident was truly disheartening, LeBron held his head high and yet again showed great leadership, poise, and peace in the face of racial injustices. He showed the world that racism is still an issue even for those that have “made it.”