“I will never shut up about things that are wrong.”
LeBron James has hit back at comments from Zlatan Ibrahimović, who said the NBA superstar should “do what you’re good at”, criticising his involvement in grassroots politics.
Ibrahimović was speaking to Discovery+ when he said: “What he does is phenomenal, but I don’t like it when people with a certain ‘status’ talk about politics. Do what you are good at. I play football because I am the best at it. If I was a politician, I’d have gone into politics.
“This is the first mistake that famous people make when they feel like they’ve arrived. I think it’s better to steer clear of these issues and do what you’re good at.”
In a slam dunk more emphatic than most on the court, James hit back following the LA Lakers’ win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night, saying: “I will never shut up about things that are wrong. I preach about my people and I preach about equality, social justice, racism, voter suppression – things that go on in our community.
“I’ll use my platform to continue to shed light on everything that’s going on around this country and around the world. There’s no way I would ever just stick to sports, because I understand how powerful this platform and my voice is.”
“I speak from a very educated mind. I’m kind of the wrong guy to go at, because I do my homework,” James added.
“I’m kind of the wrong guy to actually go at because I do my homework.” @KingJames responds to Zlatan’s criticism of his activism 👏 pic.twitter.com/z9o2mseXY9
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) February 27, 2021
James has been outspoken in the fight against racism for a long time, consistently criticising former president Donald Trump and taking a leading role in the “More Than A Vote” campaign to tackle voter suppression in the black community last year.
In 2018, Fox News host Laura Ingraham told LeBron to “shut up and dribble.” But in his own words, he will “never shut up.”
