LA Lakers Players, Including LeBron James, Rock Mock MAGA Hats

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Aug 19, 2020

During Tuesday evening’s first-round playoff game between the Lakers and the Trail Blazers, legendary NBA star LeBron James and some of his teammates wore mock “Make America Great Again” caps with the “Great Again” part scratched out and “Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor” in its place.

James also wore a t-shirt with the slogan, “By Any Means,” while posting up on Instagram, “By Any Means!! Lets Get It #JusticeForBreonnaTaylor.”

via The Daily Wire:

Some of the other members of the Lakers squad who donned the mock MAGA hats included Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard, Jared Dudley, Quinn Cook, Rajon Rondo, Danny Green, and JR Smith, as The Daily Mail reported.

After the game, James told reporters, “You know the situation that’s going on in Louisville, Kentucky. An innocent woman being killed, by the name of Breonna Taylor. A woman who had a bright future. Her life was taken away from her. There’s been no arrests, there’s been no justice, not only for her, but for her family … We want to continue to shed light on that situation because it’s just unjust. That’s what it’s about.”

Last month, James told reporters at a press conference, “The same energy that we have on the floor is the same energy that we have towards having justice for Breonna Taylor and her family is the energy that we bring to the game. That’s just who we are. We want the cops arrested who committed that crime. As one of the leaders of this league, I want Taylor’s family to know and the state of Kentucky to know … we want justice. And that’s what it’s all about. What’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong. And this is a wrong situation that’s going on … It’s just heartbreaking. You guys don’t understand. Unless you’re a person of color, you guys don’t understand. I understand you might feel for us. But you will never truly understand what it is to be black in America.”

James continued, “A lot of people kind of use this analogy, talking about Black Lives Matter as a movement. It’s not a movement. When you’re black, it’s not a movement. It’s a lifestyle. We sit here and say it’s a movement, and, OK, how long is this movement going to last? ‘Don’t stop the movement.’ No, this is a walk of life. When you wake up and you’re Black, that is what it is. It shouldn’t be a movement. It should be a lifestyle. This is who we are. … I don’t like the word ‘movement’ because, unfortunately, in America and in society, there ain’t been no damn movement for us. There ain’t been no movement.”

“You know what’s going on now. Is that progress? I think we can all say that’s not progress,” the NBA star said. “The conversations being had right now and how many people are really listening or just having the conversations of trying to make things happen, that’s progress. We got a long way to go.”

When asked once whether or not he would sit across from President Trump and have a conversation, he said no, but stated he’d gladly sit across from Barack, referring to the former president.

Seems a bit racist in his thinking, but hey, consistency isn’t exactly in fashion in modern America, right?

At the end of the day, should we be politicizing sports? Every part of life is clouded and thick with politics. Can’t we have just one small area of culture where we can set aside our political differences and be joined together?

People of all walks of life used to be able to join together to at least cheer on their favorite sports teams. Not any more.

Sad, isn’t it?