Opinion | LeBron James’ void on Hong Kong and China while claiming to speak up for social justice brings motives into question
- The Los Angeles Lakers star actively sought to put down Daryl Morey when Houston Rockets GM commented on Hong Kong
- James says he speaks from ‘a very educated mind’ but has contradicted himself in the past
James had found himself entangled in the NBA’s controversy with the Chinese Communist Party, a long-lasting row that kicked off that October when then Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted his support for Hong Kong’s protesters.
The Los Angeles Lakers star, who was in China for two preseason games against the Brooklyn Nets, made his way back to the US and laid into Morey during an interview.
“I don’t want to get into a feud with Daryl but I believe he wasn’t educated about the situation at hand and he spoke,” said James. “And so many people could have been harmed not only financially, physically, emotionally, spiritually. So just be careful what we tweet and say and we do, even though, yes, we do have freedom of speech, but there can be a lot of negative that comes with that, too.”
James clarified his comment, stating he didn’t say Morey was “misinformed” on Hong Kong’s protests, but was rather highlighting how impactful tweeting could be. He said Morey’s “timing was off” and he should have waited until the NBA players left China. Then he contradicted himself.