LeBron decided not to be like Mike
Different times. Different people. Different intentions.
We love to compare the talents of athletes from different eras — Rocket Richard or Mike Bossy, Warren Moon or Doug Flutie, Yogi Berra or Johnny Bench — but it becomes more complicated when the comparisons venture outside the athletic arena. Politics, religious beliefs and social activism make for treacherous ground when we try to compare athletes as people who choose or do not choose to use their fame as a platform.
We have seen that this week. Netflix has been slowly rolling out “The Last Dance,” the story of the 1998 Chicago Bulls, and people have been loving the behind-the-scenes storytelling and inside accounts of that NBA club.
At the centre of it all, naturally, is Michael Jordan. Episode 5, released this week, dealt with his general unwillingness to use his fame to advance a non-basketball agenda. His infamous “Republicans buy sneakers too” quote, attributed to him when he declined to back an AfricanAmerican candidate in a controversial 1990 North Carolina Senate race, was discussed at length.
“I don’t think that statement needs to be corrected because I said it in jest,” Jordan said in the documentary. He was later asked about the activism of an athlete like Muhammad Ali. “I do commend Muhammad Ali for standing up for what he believed in,” Jordan said. “But I never thought of myself as an activist. I thought of myself as a basketball player.
“I wasn’t a politician when I was playing my sport. I was focused on my craft. Was that selfish? Probably.”
One of the few basketball players to ever compare to Jordan, LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers, demonstrated again this week that he has chosen a far different path.
James used his Twitter account, which has 45.9 million followers, to speak out on the shocking shooting of an unarmed, 25-year-old Black man in Georgia. Video emerged this week of the Feb. 23 incident in which Ahmaud Arbery was jogging through an Atlantaarea neighbourhood when he was confronted by a 64-yearold former policeman and his son, both white men. A scuffle ensued, and Arbery collapsed and died after being struck by a shotgun blast.
The family of the dead youth called it a “modern lynching.” James was clearly outraged and didn’t hold back.
“We’re literally hunted EVERYDAY! EVERYTIME we step foot outside the comfort of our homes! Can’t even go for a damn jog man! Like WTF man are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?!? No man fr ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!! I’m sorry Ahmaud (Rest in Paradise) and my prayers and blessings sent to the heavens above to your family!! #StayWoke #ProfiledCauseWeAreSimplyBlack “
Late Thursday, murder charges were laid against Greg McMichael, 64, and his son Travis, 34. They had previously claimed they believed Arbery looked like a suspect in a number of break-ins.
James’ comments were nothing new for him. Starting with being part of a 2012 NBA protest over the controversial shooting death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, he has consistently been outspoken on matters of violence against African Americans and racism. When Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling was caught making racist statements, James said he didn’t belong in the NBA and soon after Sterling was banned for life.
“I feel my calling here goes above basketball … I have a responsibility to lead,” James wrote in a first-person essay published in Sports Illustrated in 2014.
Four years later, in a an interview with ESPN.com, he said, “At the end of the day, when I decided I was going to start speaking up and not giving a f--- about the backlash or if it affects me, my whole mindset was it’s not about me. My popularity went down. But at the end of the day, my truth to so many kids and so many different people was broader than me personally.”
After he made critical statements about President Donald Trump that same year, James was ripped by vile Fox News commentator Laura Ingraham for lacking intelligence and told to “shut up and dribble.”
James, as has become his custom, responded forcefully. “We will definitely not shut up and dribble,” he said. “I will definitely not do that. I mean too much to society. I mean too much to youth. I mean too much to so many kids that feel they don’t have a way out and they need someone to help them out of the situation they’re in.”
Jordan and James couldn’t have chosen to use their fame more differently. Their choices speak to their backgrounds, temperaments, priorities and experiences while living the celebrity existence of rich African-American athletes.
“Any African-American in this society that sees significant success has an added burden,” former U.S. President Barack Obama said in “Last Dance.” “And a lot of times America is very quick to embrace a Michael Jordan or an Oprah Winfrey or a Barack Obama so long as it’s understood that you don’t get too controversial around broader issues of social justice.”
Speaking out is a risky business, as James found out late last year when he waded into the NBA’s China controversy. What might seem like brave public stances to some can also be viewed as foolish or counterproductive by others.
James, to this space, is exactly what we need in these turbulent times. Colin Kaepernick, too. These are men unafraid to stick their necks out on principle.
Jordan, however, recognized that wasn’t what he wanted to be, and he also instinctively understood many follow sports to avoid complicated political and social controversies. He chose to be more like Wayne Gretzky. A terrific ambassador for his sport. Full stop.
These athletes live with their life choices. They’re the ones who have to look in the mirror every day and like what they see.