QUINTIN JAMES
Assistant Sports Editor
During the NBA All-Star weekend, LeBron James and Kevin Durant were bombarded with questions about their response to Fox News’ Laura Ingraham’s “shut up and dribble” comments.
In an interview with ESPN’s Cari Champion, James said, “We are at a watershed moment in this country’s history, and we cannot deny that we are very divided, especially in the political arena.”
Durant explained that he and his teammates on the Golden State Warriors would not be attending the White House for the traditional post-championship celebration. He also expressed that athlete’s voices are powerful in the community.
Durant and James explained that they are role models for young children and that kids and teenagers think highly of them, so their word matters. They voiced their displeasure with the President and explained why in the interview.
Ingraham responded to those statements.
“You’re great players, but no one voted for you,” she said. “Millions elected Trump to be their coach. So keep the political commentary to yourself or, as someone once said, ‘shut up and dribble.’”
Her comments about athletes “sticking to sports” is one that is a very important debate in society and something that has been a topic of recent discussion.
It is ignorant to believe that athletes should just stick to playing their sports and stay out of the political arena. Sports isn’t a “getaway” from social issues and politics because politics is a part of sports. Owners of franchises endorse politicians all the time and frequently speak out about issues that they believe in.
The double standard of athletes not being able to talk about real issues but owners having the freedom to is wrong. Athletes get shamed for being highly paid for playing a sport better than the average person. People think that because they get paid millions, they should be grateful and shut up, but that’s exactly the opposite of what they should be doing.
Athletes are humans like the rest of us and have every right to speak out on social issues and politics happening in their country.
A lot of athletes come from places affected by the social issues happening in America. Guys like James and Durant have given back millions of dollars to their communities and other charities over the course of their careers, and they can be seen as role models.
No matter how hard you try, politics can’t be taken out of sports. As cliché as it may sound, politics and sports go together like peanut butter and jelly.
People who try and tell you that athletes need to “stick to sports” are ignorant to the dynamics of sports and politics. A quick Google search will prove that sports and politics are mixed together and athletes should have every right to not “stick to sports.”