James’ home vandalized
OAKLAND, Calif. — LeBron James wanted to be with his family, to hug his wife and three kids back in Ohio. Visibly shaken by an event he couldn’t control, Cleveland’s star struggled yesterday to focus on his seventh straight NBA Finals and the Golden State Warriors.
For the game’s best player, basketball was overshadowed by racism.
On the eve of the Cavaliers and Warriors meeting for the third straight year, police said James’ mansion in Los Angeles was vandalized in the morning with a racial slur spray painted onto the front gate.
James discussed the daily challenges of being black in the United States.
“No matter how much money you have, no matter how famous you are, no matter how many people admire you, being black in America is tough,” James said. “We have a long way to go for us as a society and for us as African-Americans until we feel equal in America. But my family is safe, and that’s what’s important.”
According to police, an unidentified person spray painted the N-word on the front gate of James’ $20 million home in the Brentwood neighborhood yesterday morning. Neither James nor his family was in their secondary home at the time. The property manager told officers that it is believed the incident was captured on surveillance video. Police are investigating it as an act of vandalism and a possible hate crime.
James bought the house in 2015 after his production company signed a $15 million developmental deal with Warner Bros., an agreement that has him spending more time in Southern California. The 9,440-square-foot home is not his primary residence. James lives in Bath, Ohio.
As he and the Cavaliers got ready to face the Warriors in Game 1 tonight, James was handling a topic normally discussed in other forums.
“As I sit here on the eve of one of the greatest sporting events that we have in sports, race and what’s going on comes again, and on my behalf and my family’s behalf. But I mean I look at it as, if this is to shed a light and continuing to keep the conversation going on my behalf then I’m OK with it,” James said. “My family is safe, they’re safe and that’s the most important.
“But it just goes to show that racism will always be a part of the world, a part of America. You know hate in America, especially for African-Americans, is living every day.”