LeBron James hasn’t responded to a shot about his intelligence from President Donald Trump, but Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and other fellow NBA players took to Twitter to defend him.
Trump took aim at James in a tweet on Friday night, days after an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon aired in which the Los Angeles Lakers star said he felt that Trump was “using sports to kinda divide us.”
“Sports has never been something that divides people,” James told Lemon. “It’s always been something that brings someone together.”
Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do. I like Mike!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 4, 2018
Trump also appeared to take sides in the LeBron vs. Jordan debate, saying, “I like Mike!”
Jordan, who owns the Charlotte Hornets, issued a statement Saturday backing James.
“I support LJ,” Jordan said in the statement. “He’s doing an amazing job for his community.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who was at the league’s NBA Africa Game on Saturday in Johannesburg, South Africa, commended James for his work on and off the court.
“LeBron James is one of the all-time greatest NBA players and one of the most accomplished athletes,” Silver told USA Today. “He runs a very successful media company. He’s sent hundreds of students to college and just opened a school in Akron where at-risk students will receive free tuition, meals and transportation.
“I greatly admire his intelligence and business acumen and have enormous respect and appreciation for what he does in his community.”
Other players from around the league, including Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns and Utah’s Donovan Mitchell, came to James’ defense on social media after Trump’s tweet.
So let me get this straight: Flint, MI has dirty water still, but you worried about an interview about a man doing good for education and generations of kids in his hometown? Shut your damn mouth! Stop using them twitter fingers and get stuff done for our country with that pen. https://t.co/sEkX3OKaJM
— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) August 4, 2018
A sign of an insecure human being is one who attacks others to make themselves feel better… im just sad that young kids have to see stupid tweets like these and grow up thinking it’s okay… forget everything else Donald your setting a bad example for kids😑 our future 🤡 https://t.co/eg0MECg8xC
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) August 4, 2018
Keep doing you @KingJames! 💪🏽 https://t.co/LOFVdQgyYr
— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) August 4, 2018
He’s gotta go! https://t.co/rujnO4rbYH
— Jared Dudley (@JaredDudley619) August 4, 2018
I’ve been silent about ALL of the DUMB stuff this man has tweeted but THIS is attacking the NBA brotherhood and I’m not rollin’! What an embarrassment… https://t.co/zHjgokig8R
— Anthony Tolliver (@ATolliver44) August 4, 2018
Tired of you! https://t.co/3vYwL0OyMx
— Bradley Beal (@RealDealBeal23) August 4, 2018
I hadn’t a need until now to say I am proud of @KingJames for following his dream to open “I Promise” school. Helping kids & their families work towards a better life. All done with his own $$, for anyone to criticize that is shameful & lacks compassion @MSNBC @cnn @NBA @CBSNews
— TheBillRussell (@RealBillRussell) August 5, 2018
Lakers owner Jeanie Buss said the franchise “could not be more proud to have LeBron James as part of our Lakers family.”
“He is an incredibly thoughtful and intelligent leader and clearly appreciates the power that sports has to unite communities and inspire the world to be a better place,” Buss said in a separate statement Saturday. “Those efforts should be celebrated by all.”
Lemon, who conducted the interview with James, also weighed in.
Who’s the real dummy? A man who puts kids in classrooms or one who puts kids in cages? #BeBest https://t.co/XO50qVksnR
— Don Lemon (@donlemon) August 4, 2018
The LeBron James Family Foundation and the Akron (Ohio) Public Schools on Monday opened a new elementary school for at-risk children in James’ hometown.
The I Promise School is the culmination of nearly a decade of work by James’ foundation, with its focus on educating children from challenging situations and backgrounds. The school will begin with two grades, third and fourth, with plans to expand in the coming years.
For those who complete the program, which has been operating for years, James has arranged for free tuition to the University of Akron starting in 2021. He also created a program for parents of the at-risk children to return to complete their high school educations, and he has planned an institute to help prepare high-school-age students for college.
In all, James and his foundation leaders hope that more than 1,200 children will pass through the program and into college by 2029.
First lady Melania Trump, in a statement issued Saturday by her spokesperson, said she would be open to visiting the I Promise School.
“It looks like LeBron James is working to do good things on behalf of our next generation,” the statement issued by Stephanie Grisham said, “and just as she always has, the First Lady encourages everyone to have an open dialogue about issues facing children today.”
President Trump traveled to Ohio on Saturday. He did not mention James during a campaign rally.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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