Dee W.
Recently Lebron James has been crucified for jumping the gun in the shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant. Truthfully I am sick of it and will explain why Lebron James is the NBA player the world needs.
If you are not aware the shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant was hours after the verdict of Derek Chauvin. This incident happened in Ohio, which is the state Lebron was born and raised. Straight away this already hits home for the man being a person of color and its close to where he grew up. Lebron James right after the news tweets “YOUR NEXT.” As the hours go on more details come out and it paints the picture in a different light. Now the world is in an uproar wanting Lebron to be punished just because. I will admit he may have jumped the gun a little, but I do not care. The world should be happy that an athlete of his stature is taking stances on major issues. It sickens me to see people who came from where I come from to get money and turn they back on the struggle. Lebron has made a clear decision to his platform to fight for social injustices and that isn’t admired enough. Instead of just playing basketball and ignoring issues like other all-time basketball greats before him; he chose to follow in the footsteps of other black activists like Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, Muhmmad Ali, Jim Brown, and so many others. This isn’t exclusive to unjust cop killings but all acts of social injustices. He was one of the first to take to social media during the Trayvon Martin killing and every subsequent injustice after. He has donated millions upon millions of dollars to black causes and organizations. This man opened his own school in Cleveland to help kids with difficult situations find a way into college. He has been nothing but a class act during his playing career with a lot more opportunity for impact after he retires.
My feelings towards the whole situation is pretty obvious because I’m backing Lebron. Did he jump the gun a little too early? Yes he did. But my response to that is who cares. So, what he was wrong about this one time. This incident is part of the minority not majority of other senseless killings. People who don’t like Lebron James and the stance he takes on issues is using this as an opportunity to criticize him. Those people include the ones who want him to just shut and dribble, those who feel athletes shouldn’t discuss politics, racists, and frankly lost people of color. When you’re as outspoken on issues as him sometimes you miss that is just how the game works. I promise you other great activists like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X wasn’t right all the time. So, in that same resects get up off his back when he makes a mistake here or there. If you want more truth he doesn’t care you are upset, and I don’t ether it is just something to laugh at when we see headlines like “Lebron needs to suffer consequences” or “Local bar owner won’t watch anymore Lakers game.” I am glad I am in an era where I can see people like Lebron James speak out and give the little guys a chance. For reasons like that and many more is why Lebron’s contribution to society will go down in history and he will be known for more than just basketball.
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