King James, this will not do
LeBron James is a whore.
Yes, that’s a shocking and insulting reference to America’s most dominating basketball player.
But what other word can we use?
King James and the NBA he represents have sold their bodies and souls, blissfully ignoring repression and wholesale abuse of human rights to lick China’s boots.
And they did it solely for money.
Isn’t that the definition of prostitution?
If LeBron objects to the notion that he’s just an expensive hooker in sports’ red-light district, well, the only other explanation for his statements earlier this week is that he’s simply dumber than a houseplant.
Here’s the background to LeBron’s betrayal-for-cash, and his dismissing of what we cherish as American values...
Perhaps you’ve read or seen stories about pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong, China’s semi-autonomous region.
When the British handed over this former colony back in 1997, the Chinese communist government agreed that Hong Kong would be allowed to live under its own laws.
Recently, though, mainland China has taken a harder line, insisting that anyone committing certain crimes — exercising free speech, for example — must be extradited for trial in China itself.
SO THAT’S how the demonstrations started.
They’ve become larger and more violent, with the Chinese government determined to smash all objections from Hong Kong residents.
Then...
On Oct. 4, a Twitter message popped up from Daryl Morey, general manager of the Houston Rockets.
Morey tweeted: “Fight for freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.”
That single statement from one man ignited the full fury of the Chinese government, which has been working with the NBA for years.
And in fact, the league had players and teams in China as its preseason was winding down — including LeBron and his Los Angeles Lakers.
Suddenly, no NBA games could be televised in the basketball-crazy country of 1.4 billion.
China halted every bit of cooperation with the league, simply over Morey’s two-sentence use of the free speech we enjoy in this country.
This is no small thing, since the NBA does BILLIONS worth of business in China, where the conservative estimate is that 800 million viewers enjoyed pro hoops on TV last year.
Sure, you can say the Chinese overreacted to Morey’s tweet, but that’s the hammer the NBA should have expected.
It’s not like they care what we think.
MONEY BE damned, the NBA should have said: “Fine, we’ll take our ball and go home.”
The Chinese population really, really wants pro basketball and the NBA could have waited them out.
Instead, Commissioner Adam Silver produced a response that was an attempt to please everyone, and achieved just the opposite by pleasing no one.
Silver said the league was sensitive to its Chinese partners and understood their culture, but at the same time he noted that an individual like Morey had the right of free speech.
Oh, and that Morey wasn’t speaking for the league.
Silver’s statement did nothing to soften the Chinese attitude, which is how LeBron James got into the act.
In an attempt to keep the cash flowing, LeBron told a press gathering that Morey was “misinformed” and “not educated” about the Hong Kong situation.
It’s important to note that the NBA’s massive income from China is considered basketball-related revenue by the NBA, which means a large slice of that treasure goes to individual players.
Like, say, LeBron James.
THIS WHOLE episode is sordid.
The NBA and its players — almost all of whom have stayed silent — are choosing money over human rights.
Among the many reasons to be surprised and saddened is that the NBA has consistently advocated for social justice, and so has LeBron James.
The King and his employers have almost always been on the right side of history, but this backside-kissing with the Chinese has wiped out much (if not all) of what the league has accomplished.
When some NBA coaches refused to state an opinion on the China question one way or the other, President Trump hammered them in a tweet — saying they don’t think twice about criticizing U.S. policies, but won’t say a word about a dangerous foreign power like China.
Trump’s right, but it’s not just him. People of every political persuasion have taken LeBron to task.
Rightly so.
Maybe the worst part of this mess is that neither James nor the league has admitted outright that this pro-China stance is entirely about money.
There’s something they should consider here...
History hasn’t been kind to sellouts. Think of U.S. companies that did business with Germany during World War II.
We haven’t quite reached that stage with China, but...
It’s getting close, LeBron.
Talk to some of your American fans who have been skinned by current trade wars.
Then think this through again.
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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Steve also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball once monthly during the off season. The weekly edition will begin Nov. 5.