NBA’s James credits Kaepernick for inspiring push for social justice

After kneeling during the national anthem on the opening night of the NBA’s bubble restart, LeBron James dedicated the coordinated social justice demonstration to former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

James, who led the Los Angeles Lakers past the Clippers at 103101 at The Arena at Disney World on Thursday, said Kaepernick “taught me a lot”about the protest issue. Kaepernick, once a star quarterback with the San Francisco 49ers, has not played in the NFL since he began protesting police brutality by taking a knee during the national anthem in 2016.

“Kaep was someone who stood up when times weren’t comfortable, when people didn’t understand, when people refused to listen to what he was saying,” James said.“If you go back and listen to his postgame interviews when he was talking about why he was kneeling, it had absolutely nothing to do with the flag, it had absolutely nothing to do about the soldiers, the men and women that keep our land free. He explained that, and the ears were closed. People never listened. They refused to listen. I did. A lot of my people in the Black community did listen.”

The Lakers and Clippers donned “Black Lives Matter” shirts and locked arms before their contest in a unified demonstration. Every player on both teams participated, as did the coaches and referees.

After praising Rep. John Lewis recently for teaching him to “never be afraid of conflict, good conflict, positive conflict that can create change,”James said he appreciated Kaepernick’s willingness to take a polarizing stand and to clearly state his motives, even when critics called kneeling un-American.