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Lebron James (Los Angeles Lakers)

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As I said before, neither choice in this scenario is a win-win. At the end of the day, LeBron is in the business of basketball, he isn't in the business of international politics, and while media and fans can complain about him not standing up for the little guys, I have yet to see anyone complaining who works for the NBA. The entire league wants to have Chinese fan support and $. Should the league penalize Chinese fans because of their government? It's obviously a bad business decision for American NBA players to do anything that would impact the league's ability to capitalize on the lucrative China market.
 
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DZ83CK said:
As I said before, neither choice in this scenario is a win-win. At the end of the day, LeBron is in the business of basketball, he isn't in the business of international politics, and while media and fans can complain about him not standing up for the little guys, I have yet to see anyone complaining who works for the NBA. The entire league wants to have Chinese fan support and $. Should the league penalize Chinese fans because of their government? It's obviously a bad business decision for American NBA players to do anything that would impact the league's ability to capitalize on the lucrative China market.
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How would the league be penalizing the Chinese fan? By voicing an opinion? It would seem that the Chinese government would be the group penalizing the fan, not the NBA.
 
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He's perfectly entitled to ignore all of this if it is costing him money, as long as he is willing to accept the consequences of being seen as a front-running (shocking, right?) moralist who is only willing to take a stand or make a statement when it's easy, convenient, and free.

It's easy to have principles when it doesn't cost you anything.
 
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To be fair, I think there is a bit of a difference between athletes discussing US social concerns and politics, and asking an American athlete to comment on China's human rights abuses. If you aren't a citizen or resident of a country, how is it your responsibility to police their government? It is a bit of overreaching. LeBron is an easy target because he is a superstar who comments on US issues, otherwise there wouldn't be much reason for media and fans to complain.
 
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DZ83CK said:
To be fair, I think there is a bit of a difference between athletes discussing US social concerns and politics, and asking an American athlete to comment on China's human rights abuses. If you aren't a citizen or resident of a country, how is it your responsibility to police their government? It is a bit of overreaching. LeBron is an easy target because he is a superstar who comments on US issues, otherwise there wouldn't be much reason for media and fans to complain.
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I would agree.....except that his silence lays bare that tweets like these from him are nothing more than platitudes.
 
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DZ83CK said:
To be fair, I think there is a bit of a difference between athletes discussing US social concerns and politics, and asking an American athlete to comment on China's human rights abuses. If you aren't a citizen or resident of a country, how is it your responsibility to police their government? It is a bit of overreaching. LeBron is an easy target because he is a superstar who comments on US issues, otherwise there wouldn't be much reason for media and fans to complain.
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You mean other than saying that someone who had an opinion on said issue was a) wrong, and b) uneducated?
 
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Bucklion said:
You mean other than saying that someone who had an opinion on said issue was a) wrong, and b) uneducated?
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Right. I mean yes, it might not be the most well thought out process when a public figure comments in such issues. But he already did it. And has essentially contradicted himself.

I actually like LeBron but it’s hard to see his take as anything other than poorly considered and self serving.
 
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Ray Ratto (probably Deadspin's best remaining sports writer) takes down LeBron along with everyone else in the NBA who is trying to play both sides of this:

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The word James needed to employ was “naive,” because everyone has been naive on this from the jump. The reality is that there is no real halfway point between being progressive and being pragmatic when it comes to billions of dollars today and in the future unless one also employs the word “facile,” which is how everyone has tried to play this, including James. They’ve taken simple chess and tried to create a draw in which they look principled and obedient simultaneously because they view that as the only way to save the money, which is naive. And, we should add, transparently yet blandly cynical. They can’t take both sides simultaneously because the two positions are in direct opposition to each other. James picked a side, and that side was rooted in self-interest.

LeBron did business, and ethics and progress will have to wait. The player everyone (unsoundly) viewed as the soundest progressive in the most progressive company chose the path of less resistance because pragmatism is what you do when the right thing may cause discomfort.

The Chinese government is not naive. It requires silence on Chinese political choices from its business partners as though they were Chinese citizens, and the NBA has offered just that. It has gagged its employees, or made it clear that speaking out is going to have consequences, so James taking the company line is actually going to be viewed as acceptable speech by the power-drivers with whom he will be spending his post-basketball career. He did what everyone in the NBA is trying to do: have enough from all sides to conflate self-interest and statesmanship. He will fail, because this is a moment that forces a choice.
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https://deadspin.com/lebron-made-his-choice-and-he-chose-lebron-1839067944
 
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buchtelgrad04 said:
I just find it odd that now, all of a sudden, people are actually asking athletes to speak on political issues after telling them to shut up. For the last 3 years, especially.

Athletes aren’t the only hypocrites in this situation.
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The number of people pining for LeBron to speak on this situation before he did, as far as I can tell, was zero
 
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