At the 2018 NBA All-Star media day, LeBron James spoke about social injustice and equality in response to the Fox News host who suggested he “shut up and dribble.”
“We’re back to everything I’ve been talking about over the last few years,” James said to the media. “It lets me know that everything I’ve been saying has been correct for her to be having that type of reaction.
“We will definitely NOT shut up and dribble. I’m definitely not going to do that. I mean too much to society. I mean too much to the youth. I mean too much to the kids who feel like they don’t have a way out and need somebody to lead them out of the situation they’re in.”
James reflected on growing up in a financially unstable situation with a single parent in the inner city, and he boasted how he’s beaten the odds and continued to inspire the youth.
Laura Ingraham, host of the FOX News show The Ingraham Angle, targeted James and Kevin Durant after they spoke out against President Donald Trump in an appearance on Uninterrupted.
“The number one job in America … is someone who doesn’t understand the people, and really don’t give a f— about the people,” James said. ”It’s not even a surprise when he says something. It’s like, laughable. It’s laughable and it’s scary.”
“Must they run their mouths like that?” Ingraham said in the segment. “Unfortunately, a lot of kids — and some adults — take these ignorant comments seriously. Look, there might be a cautionary lesson in LeBron for kids: This is what happens when you attempt to leave high school a year early to join the NBA. And it’s always unwise to seek political advice from someone who gets paid a hundred million dollars a year to bounce a ball. Oh, and LeBron and Kevin: You’re great players but no one voted for you. Millions elected Trump to be their coach. So keep the political commentary to yourself or, as someone once said, shut up and dribble.”
James is no stranger to voicing his opinions, having campaigned for Hillary Clinton, called Trump a “bum” on Twitter, and spoken out against Trump’s comments on NFL players taking a knee.
Here’s the full video of his press conference and a partial transcript
I actually laughed first when I saw the reports. Then I watched the videos and saw how it was put off. I had no idea who she is or what she do, but she won in that case because now I know who she is. For her to go up there and say what she said… First of al I would have had a little more respect for her if she wrote those words, she probably said t right off the teleprompter but that’s ok.
We’re back to everything I’ve been talking about over the last few years. It lets me know that everything I’ve been saying has been correct for her to be having that type of reaction. We will definitely NOT shut up and dribble. I’m definitely not going to do that. I mean too much to society. I mean too much to the youth. I mean too much to the kids who feel like they don’t have a way out and need somebody to lead them out of the situation they’re in.
Also, I wish she would have done a little more fact-checking because I finished high school and didn’t leave early. I graduated high school.
To be an African-American kid and grow up in the inner-city with a single parent mother and not being financially stable and to be where I am today, I think I’ve defeated the odds. I want every kid to know that, and I want everybody to know that the youth can do it as well. That’s why I won’t shut up and dribble. I mean too much to my two boys here, their best friend here, my daughter at home, my wife, my family, and all these other kid who look up to me for inspiration who are trying to find a way out, and find some leeway on how they can become as great as they can be and how their dreams can become a reality.
The best thing she did was help me create more awareness. I appreciate her for giving me more awareness. For me to be sitting here on the greatest weekend of the NBA All-Star Weekend… the best weekend in he NBA where all the countries all around the world come to watch the greatest players in the world no matter they’re a part of Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, and I get to talk about social injustice, equality, and why a person on a certain network decided to tell me to shut up and dribble.
So thank you, whatever her name is. I get to talk about what’s really important. and I can help change kids not only in America, but in Brazil and England and Mexico and all over. So thank you.
What did Draymond Green say?
In his press conference, Green said that it was “embarrassing” and “showed where we really are.”
What did Kevin Durant say?
“It was racist,” Durant said about the FOX News segment, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick.
“It didn’t hit me. Ignorance is something I try to ignore. That was definitely an ignorant comment. I do play basketball, but I am a civilian and I am a citizen of the United States, so my voice is just as loud as hers, I think – or even louder.”
