Briggs: LeBron disappoints in disgraceful bow to China

By David Briggs / The Blade
Tue, 15 Oct 2019 15:30:00 GMT

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As pro-Democracy protesters in Hong Kong continue to battle their authoritarian motherland, here is what Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly said Monday: “Anyone attempting to split China in any part of the country will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones.”

And here is what LeBron James essentially said later Monday: Shut up, Daryl Morey. Communists buy sneakers, too.

Wow.

I didn’t realize James’ groin injury required a procedure that removed his spine, too.

This being the sports section, I planned to write today on the officiating in the Lions game (a disgrace) or Freddie Kitchens (Hue Jackson fears the new Browns coach is in over his head), not a geopolitical crisis.

But James’ bow to the Chinese government left this fan of The King no choice.

You see, anyone who reads this space knows how much I respect the Lakers superstar, as a player and a philanthropist and a person who — whether you agree with him or not — has fearlessly exercised his freedom of expression.

And now ... I don’t know.

In his first comments since the tweet heard round the world — the one in which Rockets general manager Daryl Morey threatened the NBA’s lucrative inroads in China with a show of support for the Hong Kong protesters — James appeared as if he was in a hostage video on Chinese state TV.

He told reporters Morey was “misinformed,” adding, “I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand and he spoke.”

“Yes, we do all have freedom of speech,” James said, “but at times there are ramifications for the negative that can happen when you’re not thinking about others and you’re only thinking about yourself.”

James later tried to reposition his remarks, but the message was clear: Shame on Morey for not thinking about his ability to sell his $200 Nike LeBron 17 Future Air to a potential 1.4 billion customers in China.

Now, before we go on, let me say the most unfortunate part of this storm is the wave of bad-faith takes.

Many who have pounced on James no doubt gleefully laid in wait for this moment, just as many of those who have blasted the NBA stars and coaches for their silence are the same people who blast them when they do speak up. You can’t have it both ways.

Still, any criticism — and cries of hypocrisy — is fair.

The NBA can’t have it both ways, either.

This is the league that built its image as a beacon of social consciousness, with a progressive commissioner who encourages activism and free expression, including criticism of our government, the ramifications be damned. When Fox News commentator Laura Ingraham famously told James to “keep the politics to yourself” and “shut up and dribble,” he justly fired back, “I will definitely not.”

And he never did.

“Injustice Anywhere Is A Threat To Justice Everywhere,” James tweeted in 2018, quoting Martin Luther King, Jr. “Our Lives Begin To End The Day We Become Silent About Things That Matter.”

Now, we know the exception: China.

The NBA can no longer pretend it is any different than every other American company willing to sacrifice the moral high ground for mountains of cash.

Never mind China’s horrific record on human rights or its imperious regime that silences citizens. Business is business, and if preserving the billions of dollars that pour in from the basketball-mad country means looking the other way at a few shattered bones, that’s the cost of doing it.

Former NBA commissioner David Stern made this clear in a 2006 interview with Sports Illustrated.

“Believe me, the China situation bothers me,” Stern said. “But at the end of the day, I have a responsibility to my owners to make money. I can never forget that, no matter what my personal feelings might be.”

As for James, I expected more.

It’s one thing to stay quiet. That’s fine. James could have dodged the questions on China like everyone else, under the cover of a gag order clearly issued by the league.

But for James to tell the analytically inclined Morey to, in effect, shut up and crunch numbers? That runs against the values and freedoms that James has always held highest, and it means The Decision is no longer the worst look of his career.

Not even close.

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