Lakers star LeBron James weighed in on former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick's protest and subsequent blacklisting in the latest episode of his HBO show The Shop.
Since Kaepernick's 2016 protest against racism and police brutality, the athlete has become a hated enemy of the right for taking a knee during the national anthem. He lost several quarterback jobs, was blacklisted by the NFL and, to those who disagree with his stance, has become an anti-American symbol. But his fortune changed when Nike made him a spokesperson this past summer.
Through it all, Kaepernick gained supporters who believe in his cause. One of those supporters is King James. During a conversation with Los Angeles Rams star running back Todd Gurley, James compared NFL owners to slave masters for their lack of understanding about the protests.
"In the NFL, they got a bunch of old white men owning teams, and they got that slave mentality," James said. "And it's like, 'This is my team. You do what the (expletive) I tell y'all to do. Or we get rid of y'all.' "
The Lakers star player praised NBA Commissioner Adam Silver for allowing players to speak up about the causes of their choosing. But he continued to hammer the NFL not allowing players' opinions to be heard.
"I'm so appreciative in our league of our commissioner," James added. "He doesn't mind us having … a real feeling and be able to express that. It doesn't even matter if Adam agrees with what we are saying, he at least wants to hear us out. And as long as we are doing it in a very educational, non-violent way, then he's absolutely OK with it."
To James and football fans, the players are and will remain the main attraction. If players continue to be silenced, the league may suffer, James opined.
"At the end of the day, the players are who make the ship go. We make it go," James said. "Every Sunday, without Todd Gurley and without Odell Beckham Jr., without those players, those guys, there is no football. And it’s the same in the NBA.
"The difference between the NBA and the NFL, the NBA (cares about) what we believe (a player) can be, the potential. In the NFL, it’s what can you do for me this Sunday or this Monday or this Thursday. And if you ain’t it, we moving on."
This isn't the first time King James let loose. In an earlier episode of The Shop, he shared his trepidations about being around white people when he was young.
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