LeBron James personally framed the racial divide that exists in this country by recalling an incident last year when racist graffiti painted on the gate of his $20 million home in Brentwood, Calif.
In a joint interview with Kevin Durant conducted last month by ESPN’s Cari Champion and posted online by UNINTERRUPTED, the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar candidly discussed the experience and how it made him realize there is much work left to be done involving racial issues.
“I’m a black man with a bunch of money and a crib in Brentwood, and having the word ‘n—–‘ spray painted over my gate, that lets you know I still have a lot of work to do,” James said, via ESPN.
“No matter how far you come,” James later added, “there are always people who want to let you know that you are still beneath them. You either cave in to that notion or you say, you know what, I’m going to paint over this gate and make it taller.”
James of course is among the most outspoken superstars playing professional sports at the moment, both on the topic of race issues as well as wider social/political issues. James also sharply criticized President Donald Trump in the interview and Durant echoed his fellow NBA All-Star’s sentiments while mentioning he would not have attended a ceremony at the White House had an invitation been extended to his championship Golden State Warriors squad.
“What’s going on in our country,” Durant said, “it’s all about leadership. I learned that playing basketball. I learned a lot of life skills from playing basketball. You need to empower people, you need to encourage people. That’s what builds a great team. And I feel like our team, as a country, is not run by a great coach.”
More must-reads: