Los Angeles Lakers superstar forward LeBron James has never been one to shy away from speaking on serious political topics, and last week’s mass shooting in Thousand Oaks, California was no different. When asked about his thoughts on the incident, James gave a heartfelt response, according to Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated:
“Probably the same thing that went through everyone’s mind,” James told reporters during post-game comments, when asked for his initial reaction to the Thousand Oaks shooting. “Not again. Oh wow. What the hell. Probably some more explicit terms that I won’t say right here. … It all comes back to this gun situation that we have in America. … People are being able to buy guns and do things with them and innocent lives are being taken at young ages.”
“When I was younger, we didn’t really have to worry about gun violence too much,” he said. “If you had a problem with someone, you fisted it out and moved on. Now, it’s like people are shooting it out and don’t even have a problem with somebody, they just have a problem with themselves or a problem with the situation they’re in. It’s just very troubling times for everyone.”
The Lakers also joined the Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks, and Los Angeles Clippers in honoring the victims of the shooting with ‘ENOUGH’ shirts during pre-game warmups. The shirts featured every victim’s name on the back.
#ENOUGH pic.twitter.com/9a2wDw5vBZ
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 12, 2018
James, who signed with the Lakers this summer, also notably wore ‘I Can’t Breathe’ shirts in a contest against the Brooklyn Nets as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014 following the death of Eric Garner, who was fatally choked by a police officer.
