OT: Lebron's China Syndrome

[NJNetz]

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Are Lebron James' Chinese endorsement deals preventing him from taking a stand on human rights in Africa? James was one of two Cavs who declined to sign a letter to Chinese leaders protesting their support for the Sudanese government, long accused of genocide in Darfur. More than a half million people, mostly blacks, have been killed by Sudanese-backed government. James says he needs more information, but others suspect his desire to be a global brand is interfering with his conscience.</div>
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[The Dream]

as much as I like Bron it wouldn't surprise me.....black athletes of this new generation and of past have always shyed away from racial/political occurings for their own benefit unlike their predecessors (Ali,Robinson, Jim Brown,etc.)......the problem is a lot of black athletes don't see racism as blatantly as they did in the past or they're too ignorant or selfish to want to see it.....

 

[Midnight Green]

My two cents on this is that people need to stop looking at LeBron as some type of global leader. He is a 22 year old kid who has done nothing more than play a series of basketball games his entire life. I have all the respect in the world for him on the court, but thats about where it ends.

 

[The Dream]

^^^yeah I understand he is a basketball player, but being a black man and seeing people do wrong to your people should strike some kind of chord with you, because at the end of a day you are a human being...that isn't the right type of mentality to have...in fact that type of mentality is why blacks remain devided across the world today...

 

[Midnight Green]

<div class="quote_poster">THE DREAM Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">^^^yeah I understand he is a basketball player, but being a black man and seeing people do wrong to your people should strike some kind of chord with you, because at the end of a day you are a human being...that isn't the right type of mentality to have...in fact that type of mentality is why blacks remain devided across the world today...</div>
Yeah, I see where you are coming from, but I wasn't speaking about your post when I replied in this thread (I had not even read it). My main feelings towards this are that people are expecting to much out of this guy, because of the power/influence he has. Yet we really need to consider the fact that outside of playing basketball his entire life, he really has no life experiences to his credit. He did not go to college, so his knowledge of international affairs is probably extremely limited. I just feel as though people are looking at the wrong person to try and help make a major change in the world. If something is going to change, LeBron, most likely, isn't going to be the guy that leads the movement. I have never met LeBron, so I can't say what type of person he is off the court, but at this point in his life he probably has the mind set that if something isn't directly affecting him, he has no need to get involved in the situation.

<font size="1">*Just a small disclaimer on my part- When I make this post I'm speaking of athletes/world issues in general, not just LeBron and this specific incident.</font>

 

[Lostmyluggage]

You know the world is F'd when they start to look to baseketball players to help guide decisions and enforce politics. These guys are trying to do their job, playing basketball. They don't need all these bullshit distractions. They take time out of their practicing days to do programs like "NBA CARES" and the like. That's more than enough. Instead of trying to help the situation, these dumbass polititions are wasting their time trying to find out which NBA superstar has what stance on human rights. Stern should put a lock down on these distractions.