LeBron James says race played role in backlash to his decision

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

This is why D228 receives to much criticism. She found an article, she knew a thread dedicated to it would turn into an absolute fest, but she posted it anyway because she knew we enjoy fests.

[Baseline]

I'm a white guy who thinks LeBron James is clearly the best basketball player in the world, and I was elated that he left Cleveland. Granted, I'm not a Cavs fan...I'm a Spurs fan. But I applauded LeBron's decision to leave Cleveland so he could pursue championships. It was blatantly obvious to me that it wasn't going to happen in Cleveland.

But you have to understand something...the Lakers got stacked due to an extremely shady deal - perhaps the most shady of all time...the Pau Gasol trade. Well, LeBron couldn't afford to sit idly by and let David Stern manufacture more rings for the Lakers, a franchise which will also pay the luxury tax without batting an eye. So LeBron took things into his own hands, yet played by the rules. LeBron James did absolutely nothing wrong. So I think the decision to go to Miami was genius, and applaud it with every ounce of fervor I can muster.

My esteem for LeBron actually increased rather than decreased, because what I saw was an immensely talented player who knew he was sacrificing quite a lot in the personal accolades department by going to play in DWade's city, on DWade's team. All for the sake of winning.

So I'll never understand all this backlash. It's all stupid and frankly doesn't make any sense. To me, LeBron's move was an unselfish one because winning is the most important thing to him. Seriously, what more could he have done in Cleveland? Those fools won 130 games the last two years. Watch them win about 18 this year.

Incidentally, I think DWade is the 2nd best player in the world, and Kevin Durant is the 3rd best. I think Kobe Bryant should be in jail, and I hope the Heat stomp the Lakers in any and every game they play for the rest of LeBron's life.

[Booharv]

Really isn't comparable, TBH..

I always back up my Lebron arguments, as you can easily find by looking up the history..lakaluva's trolling about Duncan is very obvious, poorly researched, and hypocritical, as I pointed out in his latest Duncan thread..

I'm looking forward to watching the Heat this season on League Pass and am not a Heat hater but you're overdoing it on the doing it for the kids and the Lebron was a slave stuff imho.

[Dex]

[HarlemHeat37]

I'm looking forward to watching the Heat this season on League Pass and am not a Heat hater but you're overdoing it on the doing it for the kids and the Lebron was a slave stuff imho.

The slave part has been agreed on by many respected members of the media, TBH..it's not something I'm using to troll, it's a pretty legit statement that has been regularly repeated by NBA analysts like Mike Wilbon, for instance..

The kids part is simply based on the fact that he donated 3 million $ to a kids charity, and came back to Akron for his annual bike-a-thon, even though there were security risks..

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

The slave part has been agreed on by many respected members of the media, TBH..it's not something I'm using to troll, it's a pretty legit statement that has been regularly repeated by NBA analysts like Mike Wilbon, for instance..

The kids part is simply based on the fact that he donated 3 million $ to a kids charity, and came back to Akron for his annual bike-a-thon, even though there were security risks..

Gee, what an odd coincidence Mike Wilbon is a black guy who acts like he was plucked right off the cotton field.

[Zelophehad]

The slave part has been agreed on by many respected members of the media, TBH..it's not something I'm using to troll, it's a pretty legit statement that has been regularly repeated by NBA analysts like Mike Wilbon, for instance..

The kids part is simply based on the fact that he donated 3 million $ to a kids charity, and came back to Akron for his annual bike-a-thon, even though there were security risks..

Lebron pretty much ran that team. Gilbert enabled him and his entourage repeatedly, plus he allowed Lebron a big say in personnel decisions. Gilbert was like the nerdy kid who was happy to be around the star jock and if Lebron invited him to hang out with him when he was there, I'm sure Gilbert would have followed him around like an eager little puppy.

When Lebron left Gilbert acted like a jilted wife more than a slave owner. The only way that could have been more obvious is if Gilbert had talked about giving Lebron the best years of his life in his comic sans goodbye.

[Gutter92]

Race is still a serious issue in America.

I admit, I do view a black person differently than someone who is white. It's more a 'my kind, their kind' at ude. I find that I've gotten more tolerant as I've grown older, but the progress is not fast enough for me to have any pride in that.

Two summers ago I was mugged by two people (black) in Franklin, IND. I spent the rest of my time there afraid of men and afraid of African American men in particular. I was aware of this, but my emotions were still getting the best of me. I would often find myself in tears, similar to what happens when I think about the brawl that destroyed the hopes of my Indiana Pacers.

I would flinch walking down the street. I felt the obvious emotional turmoil a crime creates, but I also discovered that when I was pushed to the edge, I had latent tendencies to evaluate solely on skin color.

With the economy as bad as it is here in Hawthorne, IND, I fear I am not the only one who will be subject to a crime that deepens racial tensions. It has made me more vigilant on things like racial issues. I don't want to hand racist tendencies to my future children, and that means we have to even out our society, and do it quickly before we revert to the traditional American view on skin color, as I sadly did 2 summers ago.

You'll have to excuse me, I always feel like a blubbering child when I write on this topic. It's the same way I feel when I write about the Pacers-Pistons brawl that left me in tears of rage.

Only way this makes sense to me is if by "mugged" you meant "anally sodomized".

[mingus]

It's always funny how White people react to somebody playing the race card, TBH..

In addition to the stats that are provided, there's also the obvious factor that Dan Gilbert treated LBJ like a slave..

I'm still shocked how somebody can get so much criticism for doing something that raised 3 million $ for the B&G, and then another 3 million $ for other charities..the kids benefited, other various charities benefited, Akron still got their yearly bike-a-thon(despite the dangers involved of Lebron coming back to the Cleveland area..

Isn't that all that matters?..

he gets criticized for it because he didn't do it for the kids. he would've done it without the charity. it's the fact that he used the charity part to cover up the fact that he really did it because he's a media .

[The Franchise]

Gee, what an odd coincidence Mike Wilbon is a black guy who acts like he was plucked right off the cotton field.

Did a black man your (mother, sister, wife, girlfriend etc....)?

[Native American]

My tribe admires the dark man and his physical abilities. I understand why they often pull the race card because I have yet to see a dark man lose a race. They are fast like running rabbit. They should pull this race card at every opportunity. They win every time.

As for the large dark man they call Lebron. He is an impressive warrior. We have watched him jump and dunk the ball and swing from the rim. We have seen him pound his chest in victory and make many fans go bananas. He is what the pale man calls "so ing money." And by that of course I mean LeBron is so ing monkey.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

Did a black man your (mother, sister, wife, girlfriend etc....)?

Tbh I've defended black people plenty on this site (Amare vs. Nash as the primary example), but this is an example where it's a bunch of s whining about how they feel they've been "dizzenfranchizzed by da white man!"

[The Franchise]

Tbh I've defended black people plenty on this site (Amare vs. Nash as the primary example), but this is an example where it's a bunch of s whining about how they feel they've been "dizzenfranchizzed by da white man!"

That still didn't answer my question.

[Jose Canseco]

Did a black man your (mother, sister, wife, girlfriend etc....)?

Are you ing a black man?

I know a guy who can help you with the sores.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

That still didn't answer my question.

No then if you actually expected an answer to that question.

lol Rocketfan getting butthurt over everything on this site

[mingus]

as for the topic, my opinion is it's the same thing that happened when you had a lot of blacks defending Simpson when he was clearly guilty. Jews do the same thing. you've got Jews defending Jews because they're Jews, basically. i find that Jews are more inclined to ignore the fact that Woody Allen is/was basically a pedophile and watch his movies, while non-Jews can't look beyond it.

there's a tendency amongst minorities to protect their own, whether it's killer, pedophile, or media attention .

[HarlemHeat37]

Lebron pretty much ran that team. Gilbert enabled him and his entourage repeatedly, plus he allowed Lebron a big say in personnel decisions. Gilbert was like the nerdy kid who was happy to be around the star jock and if Lebron invited him to hang out with him when he was there, I'm sure Gilbert would have followed him around like an eager little puppy.

When Lebron left Gilbert acted like a jilted wife more than a slave owner. The only way that could have been more obvious is if Gilbert had talked about giving Lebron the best years of his life in his comic sans goodbye.

Gilbert allegedly giving Lebron "power" doesn't really mean anything..he didn't view him as an equal, he viewed him as a toy..he gave him what he wanted at the time to make him happy(so that he would elevate Gilbert's team, which in turn, makes Gilbert a lot of $), like you would do with your dog..then as soon as Lebron made a decision he had the right to make as a Free Agent, Gilbert commented on it like Lebron was his possession, like a slave, TBH..

he gets criticized for it because he didn't do it for the kids. he would've done it without the charity. it's the fact that he used the charity part to cover up the fact that he really did it because he's a media .

How do you know this?..

[The Franchise]

No then if you actually expected an answer to that question.

lol Rocketfan getting butthurt over everything on this site

Not really. You're answers just seemed like a black man may have affected you on a personal level somehow. You throw around so many ######s and coons that I was just curious where the hate was coming from. By the way, the answer you originally gave to the question was priceless.

[mingus]

Gilbert allegedly giving Lebron "power" doesn't really mean anything..he didn't view him as an equal, he viewed him as a toy..he gave him what he wanted at the time to make him happy(so that he would elevate Gilbert's team, which in turn, makes Gilbert a lot of $), like you would do with your dog..then as soon as Lebron made a decision he had the right to make as a Free Agent, Gilbert commented on it like Lebron was his possession, like a slave, TBH..



How do you know this?..

you don't have any proof that he did it for the kids, unless you want to say that what he says is proof.

to me, it's funny that Lebron decides to involve himself with charity all of a sudden as the whole free agency thing was going on.

[Latarian Milton]

Did a black man your (mother, sister, wife, girlfriend etc....)?

naw black people are not nearly prurient as the asians are tbh. IMHO it's just the innate lecherousness of asians that urges these small creatures to so much hence to procreate such a monster population, you know which frothy land im referring to.

[JamStone]

The question I still have is I recall LeBron and his "team" saying they were going to donate all the money to the Boys & Girls Club of America. And it's been do ented that the special generated $6 million in ad revenue. And I keep reading how the BGCA got around a $3 million donation. Where did the rest of the money go? If it was for the kids, why didn't they donate all of it to the kids like they said they were, like they were making it seem like they were?

[Latarian Milton]

Not really. You're answers just seemed like a black man may have affected you on a personal level somehow. You throw around so many ######s and coons that I was just curious where the hate was coming from. By the way, the answer you originally gave to the question was priceless.

what's the answer to your dumbness? you need to answer it before all tbh. IMHO he did filed an accurate response which however you seemed to have failed to notice because of your unbelievable stupidity.

[BadOdor]

The question I still have is I recall LeBron and his "team" saying they were going to donate all the money to the Boys & Girls Club of America. And it's been do ented that the special generated $6 million in ad revenue. And I keep reading how the BGCA got around a $3 million donation. Where did the rest of the money go? If it was for the kids, why didn't they donate all of it to the kids like they said they were, like they were making it seem like they were?

HH: "it was mostly for en kids"

[Zelophehad]

Tbh I've defended black people plenty on this site (Amare vs. Nash as the primary example), but this is an example where it's a bunch of s whining about how they feel they've been "dizzenfranchizzed by da white man!"

I don't know, I think you missed that part of Southern history where many slave owners took their slaves to the auction blocks and let them pick out the other slaves. The part where they populated the fields with completely worthless slaves who were only there because they were friends of a particular slave. Also, when those hired slaves then got to sit around and do nothing while getting paid. Plus don't forget all those slaves who were massively wealthy. Really slavery was often times run by the black man, and the slave owners were just happy to be able to get close to the king slaves.

Really, slaves biggest complaints back in the day was when they quit their jobs and picked another slave owner the old owner would badmouth them to the press. In the end slavery wasn't about the actual conditions black people lived in but in the unspoken condescension that white owners hid behind a thin veil of ass kissing and enabling.

The parallels are kind of creepy, really if you think about it the pro basketball court is basically the modern day cotton field.

[JamStone]

Gilbert allegedly giving Lebron "power" doesn't really mean anything..he didn't view him as an equal, he viewed him as a toy..he gave him what he wanted at the time to make him happy(so that he would elevate Gilbert's team, which in turn, makes Gilbert a lot of $), like you would do with your dog..then as soon as Lebron made a decision he had the right to make as a Free Agent, Gilbert commented on it like Lebron was his possession, like a slave, TBH..

How does giving everything your dog wants to keep him happy make you money?

I don't get the slave analogy at all. Gilbert catered to LeBron. Gilbert flew LeBron and his friends and family in his private jet, wined and dined him, praised him, doted on him. Did slaveowners wine and dine their slaves? Give them all sorts of luxurious perks? The analogy is misplaced.

The jilted lover is a more appropriate analogy. Even the "trophy wife" analogy. If you want to go harshly, even a pimp-hooker relationship. The slave analogy is wayyyyy out there. Because obviously, LeBron had the power dynamic in the relationship. Even if you want to exaggerate and say Dan Gilbert treated LeBron as a possession or as you say "toy," that doesn't automatically equate to a slavery mentality. I like the "trophy wife" analogy to describe more accurately. Because the trophy wife can leave the husband. The trophy wife gets all the doting and luxurious perks. It's such an extreme to jump to the slavery card.