The education of LeBron James
When Daryl Morey, the general manager of the Houston Rockets, tweeted support for demonstrators in Hong Kong asserting their right to democratic selfgovernance against creeping Chinese authoritarian rule, he never imagined it would be anything more than an isolated gesture of conscience and solidarity with beleaguered protesters.
Mr. Morey didn’t expect pushback from the Chinese government so offended by his tweet that it both threatened and imposed sanctions against the NBA for allegedly interfering in that country’s internal matters.
He did not expect pushback from the NBA over the possible loss of the world’s fastest growing market for NBA swag and merchandise because of his act of conscience.
And the last thing Mr. Morey expected was a sideways rebuke from LeBron James, the league’s biggest star and its designated conscience on issues from police brutality to the pursuit of black excellence in education.
After flatly stating that Mr. Morey “wasn’t educated” on the issue of China’s conflict with Hong Kong, the man that the world affectionately calls King James really put his mouth where his money is when asked to explain why he was siding with the Chinese government:
“Yes, we do have freedom of speech,” King James said, “but at times there are ramifications for the negative that can happen when you are not thinking about others and only thinking about yourself.”
But Mr. Morey had been thinking about others when he tweeted his solidarity with the protesters of Hong Kong. He was speaking out about their fight against the curtailment of their civil liberties. Who were the people Mr. Morey was “not thinking about” when he tweeted?
At least at the moment he was responding to press inquiries, LeBron James was primarily concerned with what the millionaire athletes and the franchises they play for could lose in merchandising and endorsement deals because of Mr. Morey’s tweet in what will soon become the world’s biggest market for NBA fandom. Mr. Morey was, in fact, thinking too much about “others.” They just happened to be the wrong “others.”
Mr. Morey wasn’t considering the plight of those who could lose hundreds of millions — if not billions — because of his attack of conscience about the right of the people of Hong Kong to protest tyranny.
Because Mr. Morey was setting fire to the NBA’s future money tree, the game’s biggest star and role model was obliged to step in with a nonsensical rebuke given his own history as a champion of an athlete’s right to a free exercise of conscience.
Because this is the age of Trump, Mr. James asserted against all evidence that Mr. Morey was “not educated” on the conflict, as if it was an indecipherable mystery for those outside the Chinese sphere of influence. Anyone remotely conscious of geopolitical realities understands that China has never accepted Hong Kong or Taiwan’s claims to sovereignty apart from the mainland. China aggressively crushes efforts that carry even a whiff of defiance of its ultimate control over the former Western colonies.
For Mr. James to pretend Mr. Morey has gotten the politics of the region wrong by rooting for the protesters is either an act of sinister gaslighting or monumental ignorance informed by self-interest. I actually hope it is the latter and not the former because I have too much respect for Mr. James to think he’s purposely being evil. I don’t agree with the stomping and burning of Mr. James’ jersey, but I understand where that rage comes from.
Mr. James has consistently stood up for the right of black athletes to protest police brutality. He’s worn black arm bands after Tamir Rice was shot in Cleveland. He and his teammates have worn jerseys that read “I can’t breathe” in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. He’s donated millions to the cause of black liberation through education. He’s embraced Colin Kaepernick’s right to kneel during the national anthem and he’s openly defied President Donald Trump’s racist screeds while enduring his insults on Twitter with dignity. He’s a genuine hero.
Mr. James is a leader who has inspired a generation of athletes to think about issues bigger than themselves — yet he has this inexplicable blindspot when it comes to China and Hong Kong. He thinks his fellow athletes, NBA employees and owners ought to keep their opinions about Chinese oppression to themselves.
In the 1980s, American athletes spoke out against South African apartheid because it was the moral thing to do. No one cared about the Reagan administration’s support of the regime.
In the ‘60s, black athletes were practically alone in denouncing racial discrimination and the war because their circumstances and conscience dictated that they do so.
Jim Brown, Muhammad Ali, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jackie Robinson, Arthur Ashe and the biggest names in every sport in that era spoke out on national and international events whether the president or the U.S. State Department agreed with their critique or not. Some things were bigger than future markets as far as they were concerned.
The only complicating factor in this latest controversy is the attraction of Chinese loot. The NBA wants as big a cut of the Chinese market as possible. To get its slice of that pie, the NBA is willing to abandon its once lofty reputation as America’s most socially conscious sports league. It is now willing to make its own freedom of speech contingent upon Chinese happiness in exchange for massive sales of Mr. James’ jerseys on the mainland.
Maybe someone should “educate” LeBron James on the great, proud history of protest he’s betraying by siding with totalitarian butchers. To paraphrase Paul Simon singing about another sports hero: “Where have you gone / LeBron James / our nation once turned / its lonely eyes to you.”