As arguably the most influential and astute athlete of this generation, LeBron James might be a lot of things, but stupid isnβt one of them.
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So last week, when Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva took a break from attempting to reinstate former deputies accused of domestic violence in order to issue a challenge to King James, the three-time NBA champion wasnβt going for it.
As we previously reported at The Root, Villanueva went on a local radio show and pressed LeBron to double the reward money being offered for information leading to the arrest of the individual(s) responsible for shooting two LA county deputies on September 12. He called out LeBron specifically because of LeBronβs penchant for calling out racial inequity and police misconduct.
Again, LeBron ainβt stupid.
So after the Lakers got their asses kicked by the Nuggets on Tuesday night, the Akron, Ohio, native decided it was the opportune time to issue a retort. He began by dismissing Villanuevaβs challenge, saying he had βzero comment,β then set a few things straight.
βIβve never in my 35 years ever condoned violence. Never have. But I also know whatβs right is right, and whatβs wrong is wrong,β James told reporters. βI grew up in the inner city in a Black community in what we call the hood or the ghetto. [...] Iβve seen a lot of accounts firsthand of a lot of Black people being racially profiled because of our color. And Iβve seen it throughout my whole life.
βAnd Iβm not saying that all cops are bad [...] But when you see the videos thatβs going on and you can see all over theβnot only my hometown but all over Americaβyou continue to see the acts of violence toward my kind, I canβt do nothing but to speak about it and see the common denominator.
βBut not one time have I ever said, βLetβs act violent toward cops.β I just said that whatβs going on in our community is not OK, and we fear for that, and we fear for our lives. Itβs something that we go on every single day as a Black man and a Black woman and a Black kid, a Black girl. We fear. We fear that moment when weβre pulled over.β
King James ainβt tell not one lie.
Heβs also not foolish enough to fall for Villanuevaβs trap.
Like I said before: if the LA County Sheriffβs office made it a point to consistently treat Black people like human beings, weβd be a lot more apt to help bring this shooter to justice. This man expects the public to entrust him with our safety, but he might want to clean up his ownΒ raggedy-ass house first before he attempts to come for anyone.
Especially someone as astute as King James.
Straight From
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