LeBron James: ‘We will definitely not shut up and dribble’

LOS ANGELES– LeBron James said on Saturday that he “will definitely not shut up and dribble” in response to comments from Fox News’ Laura Ingraham.

James’ comments were made after practice on Saturday during his All-Star weekend media availability. Earlier in the week, Ingraham editorialized against James and Golden State’s Kevin Durant for criticizing President Donald Trump.

Ingraham incorrectly said James left high school a year early, and that both he and Durant should “shut up and dribble.”

“We will definitely not shut up and dribble,” James said on Saturday when asked about Ingraham’s comments. “I will definitely not do that. I mean too much to society, I mean too much to the youth, I mean too much to so many kids that feel like they don’t have a way out and they need someone to help lead them out of the situation they’re in.”

James also said prior to her comments, he had “no idea” who Ingraham was. He continued on to take issue with the accuracy of Ingraham’s criticism.

“I actually did finish high school and didn’t leave early,” he said. “I graduated high school. To be a African American kid and grow up in the inner-city with a single parent, mother and not being financially stable and make it to where I’ve made it today, I think I’ve defeated the odds. I think I’ve defeated the odds, and I want every kid to know that, and I want everybody to know that, the youth, they can do it as well. And that’s why I will not just shut up and dribble.”

Later on during his availability, James was asked if he thought Ingraham’s comments were racist. He didn’t specifically say whether or not he viewed those exact comments as racially charged, but pointed instead to what he called Fox News’ “rap sheet” on the subject.

“I mean, listen, race is a part of our country, we know that,” he said. “I think the engine that she sits behind doesn’t have a great rap sheet when it comes to race in our country, and things of that nature. There’s been many people that’s not African-American that spoke upon the same issues I spoke upon, and they didn’t say anything to them. You can look at it as being racist or you can look at it as saying racial tension, which we already know that. That goes without saying. I don’t think we’re sitting here saying, ‘Oh, she’s racist.’ Or, ‘That’s racial tension. I’m surprised.’

“We know what’s going on, and I’m just trying to shed a greater light and a positive light on the bad aura or the energy that some of the people are trying to give to the people of America and to the world. I’m not the negative side. Me having this platform, I’m just trying to shed a positive light on what I feel like is right. Am I always right? Can I have everybody follow me? I don’t think so. But I feel what’s right.”

James continued on, thanking Ingraham for giving him another platform to talk about social issues that he cares about.

“I don’t mind being a symbol,” he said. “I don’t sit up here trying to get a reward for it. I don’t think Muhammad Ali sat up there trying to get a reward. I don’t think Jim Brown, Bill Russell or Jackie Robinson, and the list goes on and on, I don’t think they sat up there trying to get a reward for it. It’s just who we are. And we know it’s bigger than us.”