A Moment of Truth: LeBron James Confronts Ignorance
On a sunny afternoon in Akron, Ohio, the local grocery store buzzed with the usual hum of shoppers going about their daily errands. Among them was LeBron James, dressed casually in a gray hoodie and sweatpants, blending seamlessly into the crowd. He was there to pick up some groceries, his mind focused on the upcoming game and the responsibilities of being a father and a role model.
As LeBron navigated the produce section, an elderly woman named Mrs. Haynes, probably in her late 70s, stood nearby, adjusting her glasses and muttering under her breath. Her demeanor was impatient, and she seemed oblivious to the world around her. When she noticed LeBron, her expression shifted dramatically.
“You people don’t belong here,” she said loudly, her voice cutting through the ambient noise of the store. LeBron froze, his fingers hovering over his phone. The words hung in the air, heavy and charged with hostility.
“Why don’t you go back to Africa where you came from?” Mrs. Haynes continued, her tone sharp and unapologetic. The atmosphere in the store shifted instantly; shoppers nearby stopped in their tracks, exchanging uncomfortable glances. The rhythm of the store halted, replaced by an awkward silence that stretched on.
LeBron’s initial reaction was one of shock. He furrowed his brow, momentarily taken aback by the blatant racism. But instead of responding with anger, he took a deep breath, allowing the moment to settle. He understood that how he reacted could set the tone for everyone watching.
“Ma’am,” he began, his voice calm but firm, “do you even realize what you just said?” His question was not accusatory; it was an invitation for reflection. But Mrs. Haynes was unyielding. “I said what I said,” she snapped, her voice rising. “This is my country. People like you don’t belong here.”
The tension in the air was palpable. LeBron stood tall, his presence commanding attention. He shifted his weight, setting his grocery basket down with deliberate care. “Let’s talk about that,” he said, his tone steady. “Since you brought it up.”
The crowd held its breath, waiting for what would come next. LeBron’s voice grew stronger as he continued, “You said I don’t belong here. But let me tell you something about where I come from.”
“My great-great-grandfather was born right here in Ohio,” he explained, “but before that, my ancestors were brought here against their will. They worked tirelessly to build this very state, this country you’re standing in.”
Mrs. Haynes’s lips tightened, but she remained silent. The crowd was transfixed, hanging on LeBron’s every word. “My grandfather fought in World War II for a country that sent him to war but wouldn’t give him equal rights when he came back. He couldn’t sit at the same counters or drink from the same fountains, but he stayed. You know why? Because he believed in this country’s promise, even when it didn’t believe in him.”
A hush fell over the room, the hum of the refrigerators fading into the background. “And my mother,” LeBron continued, his voice softening, “she fought too—not with guns or fists, but by being who she is. She worked tirelessly to raise me right here in Akron, teaching me to respect everyone, no matter what they look like.”
LeBron paused, allowing his words to sink in. “So when you tell me to go back to Africa, ma’am, you’re ignoring the truth. My family built this country with their blood, sweat, and tears.”
Mrs. Haynes’s face flushed, her hands trembling slightly. She opened her mouth to respond, but the words caught in her throat. LeBron stepped back slightly, his voice steady. “I could walk away,” he said, addressing the crowd now, “but what good would that do? Ignorance doesn’t get better in silence. It’s up to all of us to be better—better than this.”
The silence that followed was profound. Then, a middle-aged man named Derek stepped forward. “He’s right,” he said, breaking the tension. “We’ve got to be better than this.”
An older woman nearby nodded in agreement. “My dad fought in that same war,” she said softly. “He always said the only color that matters is the red on the flag.”
The murmurs of agreement grew louder, and a young cashier named Ava called out from her station, “Thank you, Mr. James! I’ve never seen anyone handle something like that so gracefully.”
As LeBron walked to his car later, he noticed Mrs. Haynes sitting in her vehicle, gripping the steering wheel tightly. For a moment, he considered approaching her but decided against it. Some lessons take time to settle, and he had already said what needed to
LeBron James says ‘Laura who?’ as he responds to the Fox News host telling him to ‘shut up and dribble’
LeBron James says he won’t just ‘shut up and dribble.’
LeBron James says he didn’t know who Laura Ingraham was until she started an NBA-like trash-talking feud with him on her Fox News show by telling him “shut up and dribble” in response to his bashing of President Trump.
But the 33-year-old Cleveland Cavaliers star said Ingraham couldn’t have picked a better time than NBA All-Star weekend to launch her attempt to silence his social commentary.
Conservative political commentator Laura Ingraham walks on stage during the third day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, July 20, 2016.
On Sunday, the 54-year-old conservative host of “The Ingraham Angle” defended her on-air comments about James, in which she slammed his “barely intelligible, not to mention ungrammatical take on President Trump” in a podcast. She said people who described her comments as racists in an avalanche of social media posts took them wrong.
“In 2003, I wrote a New York Times bestseller called ‘Shut Up & Sing,’ in which I criticized celebrities like the Dixie Chicks & Barbra Streisand who were trashing then-President George W. Bush. I have used a variation of that title for more than 15 years to respond to performers who sound off on politics. I’ve told Robert DeNiro to ‘Shut Up & Act,’ Jimmy Kimmel to ‘Shut Up & Make Us Laugh,’ and just this week told the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich to ‘Shut up & Coach,'” she said in a statement to ABC News.
“If pro athletes and entertainers want to freelance as political pundits, then they should not be surprised when they’re called out for insulting politicians. There was no racial intent in my remarks — false, defamatory charges of racism are a transparent attempt to immunize entertainment and sports elites from scrutiny and criticism.”
Ingraham’s brouhaha with James started Thursday night when she aired part of a segment from the podcast “Uninterrupted,” hosted by ESPN’s Cari Champion, in which James and fellow NBA star Kevin Durant talked basketball and social issues while riding in an Uber.
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) reacts after a basket during the second half against the Detroit Pistons at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Jan. 28, 2018.
Ken Blaze/USA TODAY Sports
“I feel like our team, as a country, is not ran by a great coach,” Durant tells James in the piece.
James responds: “It’s not even a surprise when he (Trump) says something. It’s laughable and it’s scary.”
Referring to Trump, Champion added: “I shouldn’t be numb to your racist comments. I shouldn’t be numb to your behavior.”
When the camera cut back to her, Ingraham said, “I’m numb to this commentary” before slamming James, specifically.
“Must they run their mouth like that?” she said. “Unfortunately, a lot of kids, and some adults, take these ignorant comments seriously.
“Look, there might be a cautionary lesson in LeBron for kids,” she continued. “This is what happens when you attempt to leave high school a year early to join the NBA. And it’s always unwise to seek political advice from someone who gets paid a hundred-million-dollars a year to bounce a ball. Oh, and LeBron and Kevin, you’re great players, but no one voted for you. Millions elected Trump to be their coach. So keep the political commentary to yourself or as someone once said, shut up and dribble.”
Lebron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers reacts in the second half during a game against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden, Feb. 11, 2018 in Boston.
Adam Glanzman/Getty Images, FILE
During his news conference Saturday with reporters from around the world, James said, “We will definitely not shut up and dribble. I will definitely not do that.”
“I also wish she did a little bit more fact checking because I actually did finish high school and didn’t leave early. I graduated high school,” James said. “You know, to be an African-American kid and grow up in the inner city with a single-parent mother and not being financially stable, and to make it to where I’ve made it today, I think I’ve defeated the odds and I want every kid to know that and everybody to know that the youth, they can do it as well.”
Pointing to his two young sons sitting near him, James said he feels an obligation to speak out on subjects other than basketball.
“I will not just shut up and dribble because I mean too much to my two boys here, their best friend right here, my daughter that’s at home, my wife, my family, and all these other kids that look up to me for inspiration and trying to find a way out, and find some leeway on how they can become as great as they can be and how those dreams can become reality,” he said.
As for Ingraham, he added: “I would have had a little bit more respect for her if she would have actually wrote those words. She probably said it right off a teleprompter.”
