Would u give up 15% of your income to support HK protest?

There are multiple layers to the LBJ involvement. His pushing for Morey to be punished is just one layer. They also include:

• Previously fighting against the "shut up and dribble" opinion and now saying he is not a politician and just wants to play basketball
• Advocating social justice on an international social media platform and now going mum in the same way Steve Kerr has done
• Advocating freedom of speech on the same platform and now condemning someone else (Morey) for doing the same
• Actively sought employment retribution against Morey not speaking out, but for affecting his financial bottom line
• Resisting speaking on the issue before the NBA does after leading the charge for players to speak out politically

We can condense this into 2 philosophical debates: issues that matter vs issues that matter to the individual, greed and money vs freedom of speech. By giving the statements that he did, LBJ currently is on the wrong side of both for most. How he weathers this storm and comes out of it going forward, who knows.

 

I get what you are going for here, but I think you are asking the wrong question.

The decision isn't whether they give up income to support Hong Kong, the question is do the NBA's values align with China (a business partner of the NBA).

If I found out that one of my largest clients was a member of the KKK, I don't care if it was 15% or 25% of my income, I would sever ties with them. I have values that go beyond profit, values that I am not willing to sell for a profit, they are worth a lot more to me than 15%, 50%, any amount of money.

The problem here is the NBA and many of the players speak very loudly about these "values" domestically, but apparently turn a blind eye to them abroad. To me that says they aren't really "values", more like taking positions that help build your brand in certain markets. They take those positions domestically because it's the cool/trendy/woke thing to do these days in the US and ultimately it leads to good publicity and profit. They stay silent on them in other cases because it could negatively impact profit.

So, the motive isn't really related to values.... it's just profit.... meaning all these positions they take domestically are calculated, hollow, and ultimately fake. If the NBA and the players wanted to be authentic and honest with everyone, they would just be very clear the primary concern is profits and then values as long as it doesn't interfere with profit.

 

sure if it was a tax write up why not.

 

That's an ESPN and First Take fantasy narrative being pushed by Disney.

Go look around on Twitter, Reddit, Facebook. LeBron is trending as a massive sellout and a PR disaster.

Also I don't know what you mean by "I'm hearing from African Americans..." because the point was about woke millennials and suburban white kids who have made it profitable to sell $200 shoes since the days of Michael Jordan.

Sure, LeBron will likely retain his support among African American youth, but his goal of becoming a media mogul in Hollywood largely depends on woke millennials and suburban white kids. Those are just economic facts. Look at Rap and Hip-Hop. The top artists and moguls in that industry like Kanye, Drake, etc all built empires selling to white suburban kids.

I'm willing to bet in a few years LeBron is going to learn this lesson the hard way when his influence diminishes considerably and his Hollywood endeavors fail to capture the domestic market.

 

Then you'd hate to know what Uncle Sam's cut is.

 

I guess time will tell. My point about hearing from African Americans is that if the outrage grows among the minority community in support of Lebron, those young white kids will follow suit. It will be the cool and woke thing for them to do.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

this won’t work. It didn’t work in WW2 when Nazi Germany tried it either

 

I would agree with you and the substance of what you are trying to say if LeBron had made a well articulated argument about such a nuanced point. Instead, he shot himself in the foot by going off on a rant.

I said this in another thread, the power dynamic between a black athlete being asked to speak up about the actions of white management, is definitely worth merit, but LeBron squandered the opportunity by making a terrible incomprehensible argument.

Furthermore, LeBron is taking such a massive PR hit because he positioned himself as a leader and the voice of a majority of the players.

That's the reason why nobody cares about what Harden said in his straight apology to China because Harden has never portrayed himself as anything other than a basketball player.

As the saying goes, "Heavy is the head that wears the crown." That's why the self annointed King James is getting this massive backlash.

 

I wouldn't give up 15% of my income.

I would straight up quit the job if my employer tried to censor me speaking up against human rights violations.

We only have one life.
You can live it being a coward who buries the head in the sand or not. But we will all die and you can't take the money beyond your grave.

 

I don’t understand why this is a topic in the GARM.

 

For me this poll is the same as saying :

Would you become a w**** and sleep with your boss to get a 15% promotion?

 

In this case, yes, because the source of that money comes from merchandising and fandom - not what is the true driver of my value, talent. I don’t want your money if it’s linked to dogmatic oppression.

If i made way less, and that 15% ate into my required spending for basic needs, then I MIGHT change my tune out of necessity but not without seeking other sources first.

Players should stop complaining out of the argument that it hurts their wallets when they make mountains more than the common man without that extra endorsement dough.

 

Because it gets the most eyes and quite a few people here want Morey gone and have wanted that to happen long before "The Tweet".

Obviously not the right place, but also not an uncommon occurrence as far as I can tell.

 

Seems to me to be a topic better placed in a Lakers forum in LA.

 

This and 80% of the threads started since the Morey tweet.

 

I would vote that Tilman wouldn't even pay15% of luxury tax if given an 85% discount.

 

Nah.

The younger people are more socially engaged and enlightened. They are not going to side with LeBron James...... if you are "woke" you are "woke" with no exceptions.... socially aware whites certainly are not going to accept what James said.

 

I can live with going from 100m to 85m to keep my dignity

 

and if you REALLY were against racism you would know that the way to promote it is education and freedom.

Enslaving people and feeding them state propaganda doesn't make them less racist.
Setting them free and opening their eyes does that.

 

How hot is my boss? Because, if my boss is Heidi Klum I don't know that I say no to that. Heck, if she's hot enough my partner might even give me a hall pass for that.