There may be no athlete in the world more powerful than LeBron James. After years of dominating the NBA, challenging Jordan’s legacy, and charting his own story, James has become one of the most famous and recognizable sports stars on the planet.
And, in regards to the NBA, he is their golden boy. His presence attracts viewers to the league (and the stands), but it is his platform that has helped the NBA become such a big voice for social justice and police brutality. The bottom line is, he is the face of the league and a representative for basketball itself.
So when Bron threatened to walk away from the 2019-20 playoffs if the NBA owners didn’t step up to take action, it was a pretty big deal which all-but forced those at the top do more.
(via Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports)
James was stern in calling on owners to do more in aiding the Black community and to play more of a role in using their resources to combat systemic racism, sources said.
James had already told players he was in, but depending on how the meeting went with owners, he would have reversed course if things went sideways, sources said.
After the meeting, James felt comfortable with returning to the court, sources said. Owners promised that they would get to work on real action items that would benefit the Black community, sources said.
According to multiple reports, LeBron was one of the biggest advocates for boycotting the rest of the postseason. And, although he would later side with the “majority,” he was prepared to change course if the owners refused to do more for the cause.
Obviously, James is committed to seeing change for the black community. Besides the things he has already done (building schools, starting campaigns, giving back his own resources), he wants to make sure that the NBA and its owners are fighting alongside him.
So far, it seems to be yielding positive results.
