“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.

“And for me personally, you guys know that when I speak about something, I speak about something I’m very knowledgeable about, something I’m very passionate about. I feel like with this particular situation, it was something not only I was not informed enough about. I just felt like it was something that not only myself or my teammates or my organisation had enough information to even talk about it at that point in time, and we still feel the same way.”

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James was trying to say he wasn’t educated enough to comment on Hong Kong, but was totally fine with commenting on someone who did form an opinion on Hong Kong. But then he tried to walk that statement back altogether by saying it wasn’t about the content of Morey’s tweet, but the logistics of the tweet. Figure that one out.

James’ multiple, disjointed rebuttals angered Hongkongers and many who sympathised with the protest movement, which was wiped out early in 2020 by the coronavirus pandemic and later Hong Kong’s national security law. He’d taken a side, with protesters chanting “LeBron stands for money” as they burned his jerseys.

Turns out Morey was actually educated on the subject, as he revealed more than a year later he has friends from Hong Kong who he went to business school with, and was concerned for them.

James was well within his right not to comment on the situation, and just leave Morey’s tweet alone. No one would have held his feet to the fire if he just said he wasn’t educated enough on the situation to offer an informed opinion on it – which he did only after attacking Morey on the subject.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver backed Morey’s right to freedom of expression, course correcting after he said Morey’s tweet was regrettable – something that further enraged the Chinese Communist Party but showed the league was not going to kowtow. “I want this to be clear, and I think there’s been some confusion around this: We are not apologising for Daryl exercising his freedom of expression,” said Silver.

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““I like him (James) a lot. He’s phenomenal, but I don’t like when people with a status speak about politics. Do what you’re good at doing,” Ibrahimovic wrote.

James responded by saying he would “never shut up about things that are wrong”.

“I preach about my people and I preach about equality, social injustice, racism, systematic voter suppression, things that go on in our community,” he said, talking about a school he set up in his hometown which serves underprivileged kids. “I’m their voice and I use my platform to continue to shed light on everything that may be going on not only in my community but around this country and around the world.”

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James said he understood how powerful his voice was, and that he has a platform to bring light to social justice issues. “I speak from a very educated mind. I’m kind of the wrong guy to actually go at because I do my homework.”

His business interests in China are well known, his jersey the biggest seller on the mainland, and he is by far the most recognisable NBA star. There is no denying he lost a fair chunk of change due to Morey’s tweet given James has a US$1 billion lifetime deal with Nike, a company with deep ties and footholds across the mainland.

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Foreign diplomats show support for Hong Kong activists detained under national security law

Foreign diplomats show support for Hong Kong activists detained under national security law

Morey, according to James, shouldn’t have commented on it at all, but James was more than willing to speak about Morey’s comment. Sounds like do as I say, not as I do.

Maybe King James has a blind spot when it comes to social justice matters here in Hong Kong. Or, in his world, it’s totally fine to pick and choose which issues you like, which ones you support, and which ones you don’t for the sake of your bank account. Sounds like having your cake and eating it too.