LeBron James had just finished leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 135-115 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 4 of a first-round playoff matchup Monday night, but afterwards the NBA star’s mind was elsewhere.
Instead, James was thinking about Jacob Blake – a Black man who was shot by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Sunday in front of his three kids. Blake is reportedly in critical condition and his father said that he is paralyzed from the waist down.
The incident left James disturbed and with some poignant words.
“I know people get tired of hearing me say it, but we are scared as Black people in America,” he said. “Black men, Black women, Black kids, we are terrified.”
James has been among the most vocal professional athletes in support of Black Lives Matter and fighting against injustice. Last week, he and his Lakers teammates wore mock “MAGA” hats that instead read “Make America Arrest the Cops who Killed Breonna Taylor” with “Great Again” crossed out.
James said he watched the video of Blake, which was taken from a window across the street and showed the man being shot as he tried to enter the driver’s side door of his vehicle.
“If you’re sitting here and telling me that there was no way to subdue that gentleman or detain him or just before the firing of guns, then you’re sitting here and lying to not only me, but you’re lying to every African-American, ever Black person in the community,” James aid. “Because we see it over and over.
“If you watch the video, there were multiple moments where if they wanted to, they could’ve tackled him. They could’ve grabbed him. You know? They could’ve done that. And why, why does it always have to get to a point where we see the guns firing?”
Blake’s three children – aged three, five and eight – were in the car, which was particularly damning for James.
“And his family is there. The kids are there. It’s in broad daylight,” James said. “It’s just, quite frankly, it’s just f---ed up in our community.”
James’ former teammate, George Hill, raised a concern that NBA star Kyrie Irving also raised back in July about whether or not it was a the right decision to restart the NBA season amid social unrest in the country.
The Lakers star did not have any reaction to his former teammate’s comments, but stressed that what is going on outside the NBA is not lost on him or others who are playing.
“I still have a job to do because I’m here. Because I committed. And when I commit to something, I feel like I have to come through,” he said. “But aht does not mean that I don’t see what’s going on and I won’t say anything or continue to use my platform, continue to use my voice and continue to uplift all of the other athletes to let them know that they can say and do what’s right and not fear what other people’s opinion’s are …
“I got half of my brain locked in on the playoffs and the other half locked in on how the hell I can help Black people become greater in America.”
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