LeBron James was involved in some controversy in recent hours and it wasn’t precisely for his injuries or the time he will be back on the court. The King is well known for being a very active social media user and that backfired at him on Wednesday.
The Los Angeles Lakers superstar took to Twitter to ask for accountability on the police and even though he had well intentions, fans didn’t like the way he asked for justice, specifically pointing out at one officer, writing a very questionable message in a now-deleted tweet.
LeBron had already tweeted asking for accountability after Derek Chauvin was found guilty of killing George Floyd last year but he didn’t stop there and wanted to ask for more justice. His tweet didn’t sit well with a lot of fans and the King didn’t have more choice to delete it.
https://twitter.com/UrbanAchievr/status/1384967098435244032
i’m gonna give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he wouldn’t feel this way if he’d seen the ma’khia bryant bodycam footage. but the fact that he’s willing to tweet inflammatory shit like this without having seen it isn’t … great. not great.
— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) April 21, 2021
Later on, he would explain why he took it down, saying it only creates more hate, which is exactly the opposite that the United States needs right now. He received more criticism but people also showed their support for the 4-time NBA champion.
I’m so damn tired of seeing Black people killed by police. I took the tweet down because its being used to create more hate -This isn’t about one officer. it’s about the entire system and they always use our words to create more racism. I am so desperate for more ACCOUNTABILITY
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 21, 2021
Most of your race-based tweets achieve nothing other than fomenting hate, division, and tribalism. You are a dispenser of racial hate rooted in an ethos of victimology. Strong people overcome their tragic circumstances as my family and I did when we escaped the Middle East.
— Gad Saad (@GadSaad) April 22, 2021
Way to think you can tweet your way through this! You've only fomented more hate in trying to have people of different races come to hate each other.
BTW, any thoughts on the Chinese Communist Party putting Muslims in concentration camps? pic.twitter.com/p6Na5WdUvZ
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 22, 2021
https://twitter.com/KenyaBell/status/1385052770575790080https://twitter.com/AndrewCFollett/status/1385018951256653824
you’re the one creating more hate in this situation, clown pic.twitter.com/Pa5EU9MWNV
— Logan Hall (@loganclarkhall) April 21, 2021
Exactly. Anything to divert attention away from the white supremacist system and it's enforcers. But accountability is inevitable.
— Torraine Walker (@TorraineWalker) April 22, 2021
Excessive force is the default option. It must change. The job is to protect and serve, not be violent aggressors. It seems a large number of unqualified people become cops and politicians. They are really letting us all down
— JOATMON (@UnityofAll) April 21, 2021
STAND FIRM BLACK MAN! USE YOUR PLATFORM FOR THOSE AT THE BOTTOM! WE NEED MORE REALISTIC VOICES LIKE YOURS!
— QueenTray Arrowmint (@QArrowmint) April 22, 2021
https://twitter.com/Sadenochill/status/1385202098497748992
This tweet really earned LeBron a lot of criticism and even Jason Whitlock called him a communist for his actions, saying he’d like to be in ‘communist China’ instead of America.
https://twitter.com/WhitlockJason/status/1384977987242795016
The whole situation could have been avoided but there’s nothing the player can do to change that. Still, LeBron has been one of the most vocal athletes against racial injustices and he, just like the rest of the world, wants to see racism dead and wants to live in a country where you’re not considered a threat only for the color of your skin. He certainly learned the lesson and will try to be more careful next time.
