Ease up bud, I never said he was a bad person or that he wasn't an all-time great athlete. He is a good family man who has done a lot of good in his community, but he has also said some hypocritical and false things as well. And how does being a world class athlete make you not stupid? Derrick Rose was the MVP of the NBA and probably well on his way to an all-time great career before the injuries and he was illiterate.
I just don’t get why Lebron is asked these things outside of sports so often when others aren’t. Why did ESPN have Lebron call in the day of the Boston marathon bombing? He had no connection to the city of Boston or the event. Why is Lebron who has a HS education and is clearly ignorant of the geo-political situation in Hong Kong telling a person with a graduate degree from MIT that they aren’t educated on the situation when they clearly are? He does business in China, that is fine, most people do, but it was very his own financial investment that made him make that ridiculously stupid comment towards Morey. And yes it is a bit hypocritical talking about supposed oppression in once place when he benefits financially from an oppressive regime in another place. If he wants to talk about those things he opens himself up to people pointing out his hypocrisy and the things he is wrong about, he can't just say ignorant things and expect no response.
The Kobe thing is funny, two weeks ago on this very forum I was accused of being a Kobe hater for asking why he got a free pass and Bobby Hull didn't, now I have an elevated opinion of him. Guess I can't win.
I'm not saying all professional athletes are intelligent. Allen Iverson used to bury his NBA earnings in trash bags in his backyard because he didn't trust banks. But athletes who reach the level of Lebron/Jordan/Brady usually need to navigate a minefield of con artists and financial predators, which Lebron has done. He surrounded himself with the right people at a young age, which is very difficult to do, and now he's one of a small handful of billionaire athletes because of it, with a diverse array of investments and projects outside of basketball.
Does that make him a Rhodes Scholar? No. But it does make him more than just a dumb jock. Lebron had paparazzi following him and his family from the time he was 17 years old. If he was an idiot, he would've been taken advantage of a long time ago, like many, many other athletes have been.
Look, I'm not a huge Lebron fan. I'm still a Jordan is GOAT guy. But the amount of hate Lebron gets *as a person* is always baffling to me. Jordan was a total piece of shit off the court, a degenerate gambler, and more. But he never got the same hate Lebron does now. Maybe that's a testament to the hyper polarized and politicized world we live in today versus the 90s, but it's still baffling to me. Lebron chose to take the road of Kareem/Ali. I can't fault him for that, even if he's wrong about some things. Just like I can't fault Drew Brees for publicizing his conservative beliefs, even if he's wrong about some things. These guys have microphones shoved in their faces 24/7. It's a product of a toxic media ecosystem built around mining celebrities for hot takes that can be quoted and disseminated in a 144 character tweet.
Lebron is on record stating his intentions to one day buy an NBA team. Someone asked him about the possibility of a team in Las Vegas. Lebron responded. Simple.
A whole litany of celebrities and athletes had things to say about the Boston Marathon Bombing. At the time, Lebron was in the midst of a storied rivalry with the Boston Celtics. Not a stretch to see how/why he was dragged on live TV somewhere to say something.
And of course he's going to be asked about the China/Morey stuff. He's the face of the NBA. And as I said elsewhere, I have a huge problem with the NBA's stance on China. I have a huge problem with the stance a lot of American corporations have on China. But being wrong about China doesn't suddenly invalidate everything Lebron has ever said. That strikes me as very bad faith.
Lastly, regarding Kobe, you brought him up in a positive light as a counterexample to Lebron. That's the only reason I threw him back at you.
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I didn't start the Lebron stuff, champ. But I agree it's a pointless conversation to have here.
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