LeBron James Puts Off-the-Court Woes Out of His Mind
LeBron James has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons. The LA Lakers guard is facing backlash for controversial comments he made about protests in China. Prior to the start of the 2019-20 National Basketball Association season, some NBA teams played preseason games in China. Unfortunately, the NBA preseason games coincided with significant political unrest in the Asian country, forcing various sponsors to cancel some otherwise scheduled events.
The basketball player was thrown into the middle of the chaos when asked to comment on Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey's supportive message to Hong Kong protesters. With billions of dollars at stake in the NBA's relationship with China, Lebron James found a lack of nuance in Morey's comments.
LeBron James Comments on China Human Rights Issue
King James stated that he "believes (Morey) was not educated on the situation at hand and he spoke. The response drew scathing condemnation on social media. Fans saw a missed opportunity when the NBA's greatest player arguably failed to support the freedoms of the people of China. LeBron later said his comments were misinterpreted. He was not criticizing Morey for expressing his views; he was attempting to clarify how the situation could affect NBA players and staff at the exhibition games in China. What Morey had tweeted, LeBron suggested, could lead to a situation that was not favorable to them.
AD & LeBron Put Up Big Numbers LA Lakers V Golden State
The Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers took the court just days after James' comments. Not surprisingly, LeBron seemed completely unfazed by the whole situation. With the NBA's regular season just around the corner, it offered fans of the newly formed Lakers a chance to see them in action. Through five preseason games, the Lakers have been something of a mixed bag. They have three wins and two losses. Their two losses have come at the hands (or fins) of the Brooklyn Nets. Their three wins have all come against the Warriors.
Saturday's game against Golden State is the last game before the start of the NBA season. The NBA starts its season with the match between the Lakers and the Clippers. Los Angeles is predicted to be where the Western Conference will get its championship team. Until last weekend, I had predicted that this week's game would indeed be the tiebreaker. Check out a variety of NBA season predictions from professional tipsters. Bet on which teams will emerge victorious in the NBA championship and you could make a fortune.