LeBron James, NBA China, Nike Gets Eye-Opening Critique from Bob Costas

Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey took to Twitter to express his opinion on China and Hong Kong protesters. He triggered an avalanche of reactions, and China almost cancelled the games they scheduled. The Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets were scheduled to play their exhibition games, and the incident broke days away from the international trip. The Chinese leagues, broadcasters, sponsors and partners ended every link to the Rockets and the NBA. Morey tried to clarify his statements, but the damage was done. The NBA made a decision, and the games were played. LeBron James didn’t want to be involved, but got heavily involved. Bob Costas had something to say about this.

According to LeBron, Morey was uneducated on the topic and spoke. A lot of people could have been hurt emotionally and spiritually, as LeBron said, and he encouraged everyone to think twice before tweeting their opinion. People got upset with this.

Legendary sports broadcaster, Bob Costas talked at Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ on Monday, and shared his opinion.

Bob Costas goes hard on the issue

Costas criticized the way everyone handled the problem, adding that LeBron “put his money where his mouth is.” Well, we believe that this statement will attract a lot of criticism.

“And they leave themselves open to a Fox News crowd or those types, they leave themselves open to a crowd of hypocrisy. You swallow your tongue on China, but you take the NBA All Star game out of North Carolina because there are no trans-gendered bathrooms. Now I’m not saying trans-gendered issues aren’t legitimate issues, but on the scale of human rights violations, these things are not remotely equal.

“So, if you’re all in for one, you could make a forthright statement on the other, and Lebron, who I give tremendous credit to for the work he’s actually done. He’s put his money where his mouth is, that school he’s built, it’s incredible. I think he’s right about a lot of things, but I think he’d also be right to say, “look, I have a greater feeling, and believe I’m better informed about domestic American issues”, that’s fine, but that’s note exactly what he said.

“The fact of the matter is… what’s it called “Space Balls 2”…and it’s opening in China, and as splendid as his NBA salary is, you know he makes more money with Nike now then in the long run, Nike’s heavily invested in him. So, it looks very selective moral outrage on his part, and I’ll add this because I’ve had some experience with this. In 1996, at the opening ceremony of the Atlanta Olympics, China comes in. Only recently readmitted into the Olympic move, and I said something to the effect of, “Here’s China, recently reentering the family of nations and the Olympic movement, over a billion people.”

LeBron got his share of critism

LeBron was heavily criticized for his stance on China and Hong Kong protesters. He tried to explain the situation and the reasons he had to make the comments, but nothing helped. His jerseys were burnt, and protesters got pretty angry at him.

The issue is already forgotten, and LeBron is off to winning a title. He is doing a good job with the Los Angeles Lakers and they have won eight games in the regular season. His team lost two games, but LeBron and Anthony Davis are determined to lead the Lakers to a win this time. LA lost the chance to make the playoffs last season, but everything changed. LeBron is healthy and Davis is a Laker. Kyle Kuzma shoots like crazy, and that’s pretty much everything the Lakers need to win their first title since Kobe Bryant’s era.