LeBron James responds to Laura Ingraham: ‘I will not just shut up and dribble’

LOS ANGELES — LeBron James has never been one to shy away from competition, controversy or a good fight.

So it should come as no great surprise that the league’s premier player used his public platform at All-Star media day to tackle head-on a number of non-basketball issues — including racism, gun control and his belief that athletes have a right and duty to speak their mind about what they see going on in the world.

“I will not just shut up and dribble,” said James, 33. “I get to sit up here and talk about what’s really important.”

James’ comments, made Saturday after practicing with his All-Star team for Sunday’s game, marked the first time he has spoken publicly since Fox News host Laura Ingraham criticized him Thursday for speaking out about social issues. Ingraham used the phrase “shut up and dribble” in her on-air critique.

“We will definitely not shut up and dribble,” James said Saturday. “I will definitely not do that. I mean too much to society. I mean too much to the youth. I mean too much to so many kids that feel that they don’t have a way out and they need someone to help lead them out of the situation they’re in.”

Ingraham’s commentary was a reaction to a recent video segment on Uninterrupted, a platform co-founded by James. He was joined by Kevin Durant in the video and both superstars were sharply critical of President Donald Trump and the nation’s racial climate.

Durant also has reacted strongly to Ingraham’s commentary, telling USA Today that he saw it as racist.

James was asked if he also believes Ingraham’s comments were racist.

“Do I feel like her comments were racist? Well, listen, race is a part of our country, and we know that,” James said. “I think the engine that she sits behind doesn’t have a great rap sheet when it comes to race in our country and things of that nature.”

In a statement issued through Fox News on Friday, Ingraham said "there was no racial intent in my remarks."

While some league commissioners might cringe at players getting involved in controversy on a weekend that is supposed to celebrate their game, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he is “proud of both players’ response to the comments that were made about them.”

“I’m incredibly proud of our players for using the platform they have as players in the NBA and on social media to speak out to issues that are important to them,” Silver said. “The fact [is] these players are not just basketball players, they’re multidimensional. They care about their communities and they care about what’s happening in their country. They care enough to speak out, and sometimes at great risk to themselves because it’s not lost on them that there are some people who will disagree with them.”

Silver also took issue with Ingraham’s assertion that players aren’t qualified to comment on social issues because they chose to leave school to pursue a career in the NBA.

“Just because they have enormous opportunity in the way that maybe Bill Gates did or Mark Zuckerberg did to create enormous wealth for themselves and their families certainly doesn’t mean that they don’t care about an education,” he said.

James, who used to live in South Florida, also talked about this week’s high school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

“We’ve seen these schools and these tragedies happen in America and there’s been no change to gun control,” James said. “I don’t have the answer to this, so let’s just sit here and we’re having a round-table right now because I don’t have the answers to it. But we have to do something about it . . .

“We have a kid who was legally not able to go get a beer at a bar but could go buy an AR-14 or AR-15? It doesn’t make sense. And I’m not saying it should be legal for him to go buy a beer, but I’m saying how is it possible that we can have minors go buy a gun? I don’t have the answer to it.”

By Barbara Barker

barbara.barker@newsday.commeanbarb

Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.