LeBron James spoke after the afternoon NBA all-star game sessions, vowing that he will continue to “talk about what’s really important.”
James made his first comments following Fox News host Laura Ingraham’s “shut up and dribble” comments last week, in which she took James and fellow hoopster Kevin Durant to task for criticizing President Donald Trump. James initially made a social media post as a retort, leaving others to comment on his behalf.
Saturday was a different story. “I will not just shut up and dribble,” James said after All-Star practice. “So, thank you, whatever her name is. … I get to sit up here and talk about what’s really important and how I can help change kids. “It lets me know that everything I’ve been saying is correct for her to have that type of reaction. But we will definitely not shut up and dribble. I will definitely not do that. I mean too much to society, I mean too much to the youth, I mean too much to so many kids that feel like they don’t have a way out and they need someone to help lead them out of the situation they’re in.”
James likened himself to past outspoken black athletes like Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Bill Russell and Jackie Robinson. “We know it’s bigger than us. It’s not about us,” James said. “I’m going to continue to do what I have to do to play this game that I love to play, but this is bigger than me playing the game of basketball.”
wpDiscuz