‘LeBron James Should Be Ashamed Of Himself’: ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith Blasts LeBron Over Vaccines

LeBron James has been vocal on many issues. From small things like the NBA play-in tournament, to broader issues like China and presidential elections, James has not been afraid to speak his mind. 

On the topic of the COVID-19 vaccine, the NBA and other major American sports leagues have been clear that they want their players to be vaccinated. James however, has generally avoided the question when asked if he has or will receive the vaccine. 

This past Friday, James was asked by a reporter whether the NBA’s playoff protocols affected his decision on receiving the vaccine.

“Anything I do off the floor is predicated to my family, for the majority — for 99.9% of that,” James said according to ESPN. “So it’s about the health and safety of my family, and that’s what it came down to.

“Me being available to my teammates on the floor is me taking care of my body. Me doing everything I can do to make sure I’m available both mentally, physically and spiritually, as well. But anything of that nature, that’s all family talk.”

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith was not happy with James’ approach to the questions, and made his feelings clear Monday morning on “First Take.”

Smith: He should be ashamed of himself. LeBron James should be ashamed of himself. It was weak, his response to it. It was leaderless. It was inexcusable for him not to provide a better explanation. I’m talking about his comments when asked about it. 

Everybody has the right to their own privacy. You don’t want to let people know whether you took the vaccine or not, that is your business. But there’s a whole bunch of things that LeBron James has elected to speak up about, that he felt was a detriment to our community. Because he’s a leader and he wanted to bring attention and a voice that matters, he felt compelled to speak up. But on the matter of the vaccine, you got nothing to say all of these months. 

Nah. It don’t work that way. You either want to be out front and center, bringing a voice to issues, or you don’t. Period. But in this particular instance, where it resonates more exponentially, is the fact that here you are LeBron James, you know what the safety protocols are for the NBA. You know how it looks. You know that it got Kyrie [Irving] held out for a bit longer than he was supposed to be held out, along with other players. But you do it anyway. Why did you do it? Because you’re LeBron James, and we all know who you are. 

Smith’s reaction comes after James was found breaking the NBA’s health and safety protocols last week after attending a promotional event for the tequila brand Lobos 1707, which James invests in. 

The NBA told ESPN on Friday that James’ behavior was a violation of their COVID protocols, but no suspension was handed down and James was allowed to play in the LA Lakers first round game against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.

Smith went on to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the black community.

“With the vaccines, you’ve spoken out about everything else that you felt was detrimental to the African-American community,” Smith said. “And the whole COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be problematic — not just for everyone in the world — but in particularly the African-American community. It’s affected us in a very detrimental way.”

Just last month, James inserted himself into the conversation surrounding the Ma’Khia Bryant shooting by tweeting “YOU’RE NEXT #ACCOUNTABILITY.” His tweet caused an uproar, and he later deleted the tweet, but doubled down by speaking on the issue of policing in minority communities. 

I’m so damn tired of seeing Black people killed by police. I took the tweet down because its being used to create more hate -This isn’t about one officer.  it’s about the entire system and they always use our words to create more racism. I am so desperate for more ACCOUNTABILITY

— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 21, 2021

ANGER does any of us any good and that includes myself! Gathering all the facts and educating does though! My anger still is here for what happened that lil girl. My sympathy for her family and may justice prevail! 🙏🏾✊🏾🤎👑

— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 21, 2021

Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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