LeBron: NFL has ‘slave’ mentality
For LeBron James, the fundamental difference between the NBA and the NFL is the level of respect shown players by the respective leagues and their team owners.
The Los Angeles Lakers superstar forward, who in recent years has become an increasingly outspoken advocate for professional athletes on matters of race and politics, took the NFL and its owners to task on the latest episode of The Shop, which aired yesterday on US network HBO.
‘‘In the NFL they got a bunch of old white men owning teams and they got that slave mentality,’’ James said. ‘‘And it’s like, ‘This is my team. You do what the f . . . I tell y’all to do. Or we get rid of y’all.’’’
James, a four-time NBA MVP, made the comments in an extended conversation with his business partner Maverick Carter, Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley, and the actor-rapper Ice Cube.
‘‘I’m so appreciative in our league of our commissioner [Adam Silver],’’ James continued. ‘‘He doesn’t mind us having a real feeling and to be able to express that. It doesn’t even matter if Adam agrees with what we are saying, he at least wants to hear us out. As long as we are doing it in a very educational, non-violent way, then he’s absolutely okay with it.’’
The NBA and the NFL have had strikingly different approaches to player activism. In the NBA, James and others have worn T-shirts during warm-ups in recognition of victims of police violence with no repercussions from the league. In contrast, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick set off years of controversy and debate when he knelt during the national anthem as a means to protest racial injustice. The NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell responded by instituting strict guidelines for player conduct during the anthem. Kaepernick, who has not appeared in an NFL game since the 2016 season, ultimately filed a grievance against the league’s owners, alleging they colluded to keep him sidelined as a response to his protest.
The NFL and its owners have faced ‘‘slave’’ comparisons numerous times over the past decade. In 2011, thenMinnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson said that the league’s labor situation was like ‘‘modern-day slavery’’.
During a 2017 owners meeting in the wake of Kaepernick’s protest, thenHouston Texans owner Bob McNair reportedly told his fellow owners that, ‘‘We can’t have the inmates running the prison’’. Former Texans wide receiver Cecil Shorts replied: ‘‘Inmates, slaves and products. That’s all we are to the owners and others.’’
San Francisco defensive back Richard Sherman recently accused Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones of possessing ‘‘the old plantation mentality’’ for requiring his players to stand at attention during the national anthem.
LEBRON JAMES later had 22 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds, as the Lakers beat the New Orleans Pelicans 112-104 yesterday.
James got his third triple-double with the Lakers and No 76 for his career, helping Los Angeles to their sixth consecutive home win.
Anthony Davis had 30 points and 20 rebounds for the Pelicans, who lost their third straight game.
Davis and James shared the court for the first time since James recently declared that it would be ‘‘amazing’’ if the Lakers traded for the Pelicans’ biggest star. James’ comments prompted allegations of tampering.
New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said before the game that Davis will not be traded to the Lakers or anywhere else.
Washington Post