Spurs coach Gregg Popovich praised LeBron James before the team’s ABC game from Cleveland for using his voice and being a role model to today’s youth, applauding James just days after a Fox reporter’s ignorant comments about the All-Star.
“When I heard about the (Fox News reporter), it was an unbelievable show of arrogance for a talking head to try and tell someone else if they can speak, what they can speak about, when and where to do it. It’s just ludicrous,” Popovich said, according to Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz. “To not have a feel for who this guy is, think about when he came into the public view, how young was he? To this day he hasn’t missed a step, he hasn’t fallen off the ledge, he’s been a brilliant example for millions of kids.
“Especially kids of lesser opportunities who haven’t had the same advantages of others. They see in this guy someone who’s consistently exhibited excellence in the workplace and it gives them a voice, lets them know that you can speak about anything.”
The Fox News reporter Popovich is talking about is Laura Ingraham, a name most NBA fans didn’t know of before her egregious remarks — which included the phrase, “shut up and dribble”.
James, who’s long been active in discussions related to social injustice, racism and poverty, refused to keep quiet and stated that he’ll continue to use his voice. After all, James, like every other American, has an individual right to use his voice despite his occupation.
“There really is a first amendment and I can have opinions — as a coach, as a plumber, as an astrophysicist, as a lowly reporter,” said Popovich. “I can have whatever opinions I want and that’s what’s amazing about this when you look at this guy. How many tens of millions of dollars he’s given, tens of millions of kids that see him and are inspired by him. It’s kind of like that Black Panther movie. How cool is that for kids to see and have that superhero? LeBron’s been that for a long time. And for someone to be totally numb to that and attack him in such a childish way really speaks more volumes about that individual than it does LeBron. He’s very, very special and we should all be very proud that we have somebody like that who’s willing to speak about a variety of topics.”
