There’s a phrase used by William Shakespeare that says “Heavy is the head that wears the crown.” The meaning of this (and I’m paraphrasing here) is those who have major responsibility have difficulty relaxing, knowing the heavy burden they have to carry. In sports, there aren’t many who has more of an influence than Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James. There’s no denying the amount of people the self-proclaimed king touches when he speaks, and because of this, the message delivered with each appearance, clip, tweet or post is going to generate lots of buzz. Two things that comes with the responsibility and burden from wearing that crown is understanding the topic being discussed, and being willing to take the bad with the good in terms of the responses from comments made. When reaction is good, James (like many others) will shower in the praises, but when it goes badly, it appears he (also like many) wants to run away from that responsibility. That’s wild for a person who seems to be so self-aware of the image he portrays, or is it?
One of these moments deals with comments made about the situation involving Brittney Griner, the decorated women’s basketball player who is being detained in Russia for having cannabis oil in her luggage, according to customs officials in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. Griner has been detained since February, and the cries are growing louder for her to be brought back home. James, in a trailer released for an upcoming episode for his show, “The Shop,” said “I would be feeling like, ‘Do I even wanna go back to America?,” appearing to be critical of the efforts from the Biden Administration to bring Griner back to this country. James would later try to clarify his words, but it’s fair to wonder why that was the choice for the trailer, or even when this episode was filmed. Understand there are lots of complications with any situation involving a detainee in a foreign country. Regardless of what many people believe, the American president can’t bring prisoners home with a snap of a finger. By the way, we’re not exactly on the best terms with Russia right now. I think we all want to bring Griner and the other prisoners home, but it’s okay to admit we don’t know the best way to do that, instead of acting like we have all the answers. At any rate, LeBron came across as a man who was misinformed, and the notion of Griner wanting to stay in a Russia prison over coming back to the United States is beyond asinine. There’s nothing wrong with giving opinions, but it’s not too much to ask to at least be somewhat educated on the matter.
Another situation with James coming across as a hot taker happened in April 2021, regarding the death of Ma’Khia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio at the hands of police. James tweeted a picture of the cop who shot Bryant with the message “You’re next #Accountability.” When body cam footage of the incident came out, James would delete the tweet, and post more trying to explain why he took it down. In those tweets, it was everything but taking responsibility for another misinformed message. For context, we are living in a time where there is serious division in our country, and race relations are beyond low. The incident in Columbus broke the news cycle about an hour after the verdict of Derek Chauvin, the policeman who was caught on video kneeling on the neck of George Floyd and ultimately killing him, was read in Minneapolis. Emotions are raw, and having those two items happen back-to-back can make those feelings come out. It’s at those moments where cooler heads, and LeBron’s in particular, have to prevail. In other words, this was a reckless tweet simply because we didn’t know everything that led to Bryant’s death at the time. James made it worse by trying to put the blame on everyone else for misreading the tweet. I will say while LeBron’s comments were lots a things, they weren’t racist, which was a view that was expressed by some in the media.
The final instance came a few days after comments about the Griner situation emerged. Also in an episode of the shop, James called fans of the Boston Celtics “racist as f***” when asked where he doesn’t like playing the most. Let’s realize LeBron is not the first athlete to mention how out of control fans in Boston can get with their racism. Unfortunately, it’s a reputation that has been given to the city for quite sometime. Having said that, I’m willing to bet the majority of Boston sports fans are good and passionate, and bad apples are in every arena and stadium around the world. With James, it’s probably not the best way to smooth things over with the fans, especially with being a part-owner of the city’s baseball team, the Red Sox. It seems kind of weird a man who criticizes and paints a broad stroke on a fan base has part ownership on a team many in that same base supports just as passionately.
We all know LeBron has been in the spotlight for quite a while. The image he puts out is someone who has opinions that are educated and well-versed. In most cases, that’s probably true, but there are some where it’s not, and James shouldn’t be above backlash if his comments come across as stupid. LeBron has done a lot of good, and it’s not breaking news he’s well off in the game of life. I also believe it’s an overall good thing when someone of James’ stature is willing to speak out on social issues. The only thing is if said person doesn’t fully understand the topic, the potential for those comments to become reckless is high. It’s a lesson LeBron, even after all of this time, appears to keep losing sight of.
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