As a Cleveland Cavaliers fan, and general person who follows some sports it is difficult to root for the Lakers, it would be like rooting for the Yankees.
But, this year, aside from my witnessing lebron’s unparalleled physical prowess for years in Cleveland, I found myself having to root for Lebron last night as the Lakers won the NBA finals and Lebron took home Finals MVP (he has won Championships now on 3 teams, only the third player ever to do so).
I urge you also to take a moment to appreciate Lebron and root for him as the good guy on and off the Court; for his unprecedented activism and voice as an Athlete.
Perhaps his predecessor in discussions for the Greatest Of All time, Michael Jordan, famously said (although now saying it was in jest) “Republicans buy shoes too” to justify his lack of civic and political engagement.
For a very long time now, and increased dramatically this year Lebron has ignored that “wisdom” and used his platform to do the right things.
"Hopefully, someday down the line, people will recognize me not only for the way I approached the game of basketball, but the way I approached life as an African American man," James told the Times.
www.nbclosangeles.com/...
I encourage you to applaud him for his performance on the Court if you are a basketball Court, and if not for his activism off the Court.
Let’s look at some of his more advertised recent work, although his evolution of taking the big risk of activism starting 10 years ago is well documented in the NY MAG link below.
-In his hometown of Akron, Ohio, James created the LeBron James Family Foundation and opened up the I Promise School, to provide an education to those less privileged children that otherwise wouldn't be able to afford one.
More Than a Vote," derived after the murder of George Floyd on May 25th while in police custody in Minneapolis.
In the days that followed [George Floyd’s Death], as protests ignited across the country, James reached out to multiple athletes and entertainers with ideas on how they could help, and within a few days the "More Than a Vote" plan came to fruition. James' "More Than a Vote" project couldn't have come at the more perfect time. On Tuesday, after numerous examples of voter suppression in the state of Georgia were unveiled, James replied to a tweet stating that some African American voters in Atlanta had to wait in line for over three hours to vote, whereas in nearby predominantly white neighborhoods there was no line at all.
The efforts to raise awareness “concerning issues such as systemic racism, social inequality and police misconduct played a prominent role during the NBA’s resumption in the bubble at the Walt Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.”www.yardbarker.com/…
“But I hope that people continue to use their platform, use their individual social media platforms, or if they are doing it that way, if you are an individual that goes into your community and does it that way,” James said Thursday to reporters on a videoconference, per the Los Angeles Times.
“However that you continue to create change for the better of all of us, I think it only makes us all better. It doesn’t matter what race you are. It doesn’t matter what color you are. No matter how tall, whatever the case may be, because we all want to see better days. No matter if you agree or don’t agree with some of the things that are going on, I think we’d all love to see better days and see more love than hate.”
Fox yakker Laura Ingraham once told LeBron to “shut up and dribble,” and that phrase so neatly summed up what he had been trying to avoid that he created a TV show for Showtime and named it that. LeBron has now been at the forefront of the social justice movement in sports for nearly a decade, from wearing an “I Can’t Breathe” shirt for Eric Garner before a game in 2014 (Kobe had gotten with the program by then and was wearing his own the next night) to calling for gun control measures in 2015 to hashtagging #BlackLivesMatter after the shooting of Philando Castile in 2016
nymag.com/…
More Than A Vote, the voting rights group founded by LeBron James and other star athletes, is joining the fight over felon voting rights playing out in Florida. The nonprofit is committing to help pay outstanding fines and fees for former felons seeking to vote in November.
James' group plans to donate $100,000 to the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, one of the key organizations behind the 2018 ballot measure that restored the right to vote to the felon population in the state. The money will help ex-felons pay off any outstanding court debts associated with their convictions so they can register to vote.
abcnews.go.com/…
He has become a force to reckon with. And he uses his platform despite Trump and RW threats to call out what’s right often now. It was reported that he and the Clippers wanted to end the Bubble and leave after last month’s shooting of Jacob Blake (Consider that — he now is Finals MVP and has a championship just 3-4 weeks ago he wanted to send a message by leaving the bubble. Ultimately, the other players decided it would be better to continue playing to keep a spotlight and he agreed but he is not just talk.
I’ve long said that he will at least be Mayor of Akron some day. And I stand by that, and perhaps more (Governor).
Either way, we should be roooting for or applauding him especially as Trump is still attacking him on his 3 hour Limbaugh rant recently (which Lebron replied “we aren’t upset about losing his [Trump’s] viewership”]
Congratulations Lebron. I wish you were a CAV but thank you for your hard work and rising above and shattering the idea Athletes simply need to shut up and play.