If you wonder why critics of so-called “social justice” often focus their ire on LeBron James, you need look no further than how ESPN’s NBA crew covered the feud between him and Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter.
Kanter, who previously risked his life and freedom to condemn Turkish dictator Recep Tayyip Erdogan, decided to risk the remainder of his NBA career by condemning the Chinese Communist Party. That included mocking James, who presents himself as an athlete who will speak out against any injustice he sees — unless it affects his merchandise sales in China.
Kanter’s criticisms are entirely on point, and James is fair game not just because he is a hypocrite but because he is one of the most influential figures in American culture — and easily among the two or three most recognizable athletes in the United States. But ESPN’s broadcast team was unamused by Kanter exposing James’s hypocrisy.
Broadcaster Mike Breen wondered aloud why Kanter wouldn’t go to James directly and talk to him about this. This echoes James’s dismissal of Kanter when he said Kanter passed him in the hallway before the game but said nothing to him.
Of course, it’s an open question whether James went to former Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey directly before blasting Morey as uneducated when Morey spoke out in support of the protesters in Hong Kong. James, who arrogantly speaks out against police shootings even after evidence shows that officers acted appropriately, is not exactly the kind of guy who is willing to discuss these issues with people who disagree with him.
ESPN’s Doris Burke chimed in by shaming Kanter for singling out James when other NBA players and other “multibillion-dollar corporations” also do business with China. Again, James is just a poor nobody being targeted for criticism until the time rolls around for him to talk about racism or “injustice,” in which case ESPN plasters his comments all over its airwaves while talking about how important and influential he is.
Kanter would surely be happy to sit down and discuss this issue with James, but he knows James will never sit down with someone who would push back on his views. ESPN knows this too, which is why its personalities treat “King James” with kid gloves. James uses his platform recklessly and irresponsibly, but he will never be held accountable for it by sympathetic outlets such as ESPN. Kanter and others focus on him precisely because they know ESPN personalities such as Breen and Burke will make excuses for him.
