
LeBron James’s Big Miss on China - wei_jok
https://www.wsj.com/articles/lebron-jamess-big-miss-on-china-11571155717?mod=rsswn
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siruncledrew
From someone that is an avid basketball fan, here’s a breakdown:

\- Lebron chose to have an opinion contrary to Morey (GM of Houston Rockets
who initiated this NBA debacle from a pro-HK tweet) and expressed Morey
shouldn’t have done that without thinking first.

\- Lebron gets shit on from pro-HK fans and deemed a hypocrite for being
“woke” about black people issues but not on more global matters affecting
other groups of people unlike him.

\- Lebron signed a lifetime deal with Nike reportedly valued near $1B last
year, so there is a shitload of money at stake for him and Nike. Plus he is in
an upcoming Space Jam movie with WarnerMedia too.

\- Other NBA stars, such as Harden of the Houston Rockets, have mostly
declined to give opinions on HK/China to avoid further publicity of comments.

\- Teams and coaches have also stayed relatively neutral/reserved to avoid
player/team deals or sponsorships being retaliated against.

In summary:

Somewhat unsurprisingly, rich athletes removed from the real-life of a group
halfway across the world are more likely to side with personal interests
related to “their own world” than potentially tank their personal wealth
status for some feel-good comments and short applause.

At the end of the day, maybe this does highlight that we have limits on how
much we are actually willing to put forth into caring about something when
“walking the walk” comes with self-sacrifice.

People are not wrong to call out these actions or complain about them. Even
though not everyone is a celebrity whose opinion gets plastered everywhere, at
least everyone can reflect on what they would actually be willing to sacrifice
for others or act upon when asked instead of just pointing fingers or throwing
stones.

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BossHogg
People lost their shit when NFL players advocated for themselves and wanted
politics kept out of sports. The vast majority of Asians in America are here
thanks to Black people but they have done and will do nothing on behalf of
Black people. But Black people are now supposed to advocate on behalf of some
Chinese people and get involved in Chinese politics?

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cylinder
Isn't LeBron entitled to his own opinion? Maybe he's pro-China. Maybe he's a
fan of what the CCP does.

I thought avoiding forced uniformity of thought and opinion is the whole point
of free speech.

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ncmncm
Way to miss the point.

Clearly he's not a fan of CCP, but his hands, like many others', are tied,
largely by money.

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cylinder
I don't think that's clear. CCP have grown the economy in China massively.
That's why Chinese are so patriotic. Could be that Lebron is drinking the Kool
Aid.

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Huycfhct
You don't know Chinese are so patriotic. There is no free speech. And if what
you say is not patriotic you and your family get sent to the gulag

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vvram
Why do we hold our players to more moral high ground than our elected
politicians ?

