An Open Letter to LeBron James on Israel, Gaza, and ‘Nothing But Great Things’
The NBA star’s recent praise for Israel, as the genocide continues, was as bewildering as it was shameful. What happened to his support for social justice?
Dear LeBron,
You have built a reputation, perhaps even a brand, on the idea that silence is complicity.
You made that clear in 2017 when you loudly condemned far-right violence in Charlottesville and dismissed Donald Trump as “the so-called president.” You made that clear in 2020 when you boldly wore your support for Black Lives Matter on your chest, as you took the knee with your teammates. You made that clear in 2022 when you passionately denounced the overturning of Roe v. Wade and said it was all about “power and control.”
You were right. Silence is complicity.
So where has your voice been for the past two and a half years as tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have been bombed, shot, and starved to death? As parents dug their children’s bodies out of the rubble with their bare hands? As doctors operated without anesthesia inside besieged hospitals?
Why have we heard nothing from you?
In fact, worse than nothing. This past weekend, we heard praise from you for the very same country that has been doing the mass killing and starving in Gaza. “Hopefully someday I can make it over there,” you said, referring to the state of Israel. “Like I said, I’ve never been over there, but I’ve heard nothing but great things.”
“Nothing but great things”... about Israel? Seriously?