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On second thought, he’ll just shut up and dribble.
LeBron James, who shocked basketball fans worldwide after attacking the general manger of the Houston Rockets, Daryl Morey, for tweeting his support for Hong Kong’s protesters.
After his comments received near-universal condemnation — Hong Kong protesters even burned his jerseys during street protests Tuesday — James is now backing down.
James, who has frequently said he’s going to talk about controversial social issues even if it negatively impacts his popularity, is now saying this is a political matter and he’s not going to continue discussing it.
"I talked about it yesterday,” James told reporters Tuesday night. “I tweeted out a couple of responses to people not understanding, you know, my knowledge and where it came from with my brain and learning from the situation. I'm talking about it now. And I won't talk about it again.”
“Because I'd be cheating my teammates by continuing to harp on something that won't benefit us,” he continued. “You know, we're trying to win a championship, that's what we're here for. We're not politicians, I think it’s a huge political thing.”
He said this doesn’t mean people shouldn’t speak out: “We are leaders and we can step up at times. I’m not saying at this particular time, but , you know, if you don’t feel like you should speak on things, you shouldn’t have to.”
James also defended his comments, saying people didn’t understand how “challenging” it is for NBA stars like him.
“So, you know, it was a challenging — it was a challenging trip for — for all of us that were in China,” he said. “And — and if you were not there, then you just can’t relate.”
On Monday, James accused Morey of not understanding the issue.
“We all talk about this freedom of speech,” James said. “Yes, we all do have freedom of speech. But at times there are ramifications for the negative that can happen when you’re not thinking about others, and you’re only thinking about yourself. So I don’t believe — I don’t want to get into a war of words or a feud with Daryl — with Daryl Morey, but I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand and he spoke. And so many people could have been harmed, not only financially but physically, emotionally, spiritually, so just be careful what we tweet, what we say and what we do, even tough, yes, we do have freedom of speech but it can be a lot that comes with that, too.”