Donald Trump’s bashing of LeBron James and celebration of Michael Jordan had sports fans eagerly waiting for the retired Chicago Bulls player to respond. And when he did, they were dissatisfied to say the least.
Last week, James sat down with CNN’s Don Lemon when the possibility of chatting with the president came up. When asked if he’d ever engage the Los Angeles Laker replied, “I would never sit across from him. I’d sit across from Barack [Obama], though.”
Trump wasted little time in responding to the perceived dig, firing off on Twitter Friday, Aug. 3, “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!”
Several athletes — including Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell and Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns — swiftly came out in defense of James while Jordan himself took another day to issue any response.
When he did, the Charlotte Hornets owner put a short statement together through his publicist on Saturday.
“I support LJ. He’s doing an amazing job for his community.”
Fans wasted no time digging into Jordan.
“This guy has never cared for Black people. He had to ask his publicist to put out 12 words in support of LJ? This is the weakest support I’ve ever seen. This is why racist white people like Trump lives him because he knows how to not offend them and this is y LJ is the 🐐 🐐.”
“So profound. He really outdid himself there. Now back to the 10th hole.”
“Weak.”
“Wait he had to use a publicist to say that?”
“Wow. Way to go out on a limb there Michael.”
Jordan hasn’t typically been a major spokesperson of sorts for the Black community. But in 2016, he pledged $2 million to groups working to improve relations between the community and the police. It came at a time when police brutality committed against Black people reached a peak.
