LeBron “Messed up Bad”

One of the more outspoken athletes, LeBron James, faced heavy scrutiny on social media after his remarks and criticism regarding Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey’s tweet in support of Hong Kong protests.

The tweet from the general manager of the Rockets caused quite an issue between the NBA and China, resulting in the canceled events, news conferences and banned broadcasts of exhibition games, which also affected James’ team – the Los Angeles Lakers.

“I’m not here to judge how the league handled the situation. I just think that, when you’re misinformed or you’re not educated about something – and I’m just talking about the tweet itself – you never know the ramifications that can happen. We all see what that did, not only did for our league but for all of us in America, for people in China as well. Sometimes you have to think through the things that you say that may cause harm not only for yourself but for the majority of people. I think that’s just a prime example of that,” James told reporters on Monday.

The athlete’s opinion was quickly shared around on social media, becoming a hot topic a lot of people came to denounce and argue it false. James made a follow-up post, trying to ease things a little and say his post only focused on the timing of Morey’s tweet, not the “substance.”

“My team and this league just went through a difficult week. I think people need to understand what a tweet or statement can do to others. And I believe nobody stopped and considered what would happen. Could have waited a week to send it,” he wrote on Twitter.

The follow-up post was only met with even more disapproval, including users posting videos of the ongoing protests and calling James’ out on what they see as a self-serving attempt to please the Chinese market.

Some senators were outraged by James’ opinion on the matter, and proceeded to call him out on it: “Having just been in Hong Kong – on the streets & with the protestors – this kind of garbage is hard to take. LeBron, are YOU educated on ‘the situation’?… ‘So many people could have been harmed’? By Daryl Morey daring to express sympathy for democracy? News flash: people ARE being harmed – shot, beaten, gassed – right now in Hong Kong. By China. By the Communist Party the NBA is so eager to appease,” Sen. Josh Hawley wrote on Twitter.

Others joined in the fray, and a USA Today writer, Dan Wolken, also called this whole situation the most “disgraceful moment” of James’ career.