After tweeting about the president’s comments about Nazi violence in Charlottesville over the weekend, LeBron James delved more deeply into the matter while speaking at his foundation’s dinner Tuesday night. James openly supported and campaigned for Hillary Clinton in the fall, so it’s not exactly a surprise he opposes President Donald Trump. (Most Americans do.)
LeBron James is getting more political. Does that mean he’s leaving the Cavaliers?
Good morning. We have that and more in Thursday’s NBA newsletter.
Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
The twist is that the man who cuts James’ checks, Dan Gilbert, is a Trump supporter. Gilbert’s Quicken Loans gave $750,000 to the president’s inauguration committee. Gilbert tagged along with the Chicago Cubs when they made their White House visit in June.
There are already rampant rumors James intends to leave the Cavaliers again next summer due to tumult within the franchise. James wasn’t happy with David Griffin’s dismissal; he’s upset Cleveland hasn’t pulled a single major move this summer after being run out by the Warriors. Would Gilbert’s support of Trump play into it?
I don’t buy it. Consider again what James was doing on Tuesday: talking to kids at his annual foundation dinner. Consider again what James focused on in his announcement he was returning to Cleveland. What he and his wife, Savannah, are doing in their hometown is, in a way, a direct response to what Trump and people of his ilk say and believe and do.
Watching Gilbert suffer with another terrible team would be satisfying, perhaps. But more satisfying than seeing the thousands of kids James’ foundation helps climb out of generational poverty and hopelessness? No chance in Ohio.
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