LeBron James is one of the most socially conscious athletes in the world. Whether starting his “More than one vote” campaign to fight voter suppression, speaking out against armed violence or even opening the “I promise” school in Akron, Ohio, James was never ashamed to use his fame to help those less fortunate than himself.
This put him in conflict with politicians, media figures, fans and now, apparently, even with another athlete. AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is known for expressing his opinion, regardless of the subject. In a recent interview with Discovery + in Sweden, that topic was James. Ibrahimovic believes LeBron should be limited to sports and criticized the social activism of the Los Angeles Lakers star.
“(LeBron) is phenomenal at what he’s doing, but I don’t like it when people have some kind of status, go and do politics at the same time,” said Ibrahimovic. “Do what you do well. Do the category you do. I play football because I’m the best at it. I don’t do politics. If I were a political politician, I would do politics.
“This is the big first mistake that people make when they become famous and reach a certain status. Stay out of it. Just do what you do best because it doesn’t look good.”
James did not like Ibrahimovic’s comments. In a long post-game response, he reiterated that he would never be limited to sports and would always use his platform for the benefit of his community.
“At the end of the day, I would never be silent about things that are wrong. I preach about my people and I preach about inequality, social injustice, racism, systematic electoral repression, things that happen in our community because I was part of my community in a point and seeing the things that are happening, “said James. “I still know what’s going on because I have a group of more than 300 children at my school who are going through the same thing and need a voice.
“I am their voice. I use my platform to continue to shed light on everything that may be happening not only in my community, but across the country and around the world. No way would I limit myself to sports because I I understand this platform and how powerful my voice is. You can just ask Renee Montgomery if I would have shut up and just drooled, seeing that beautiful black girl today being part of a group where she is part of a proprietary group with the Atlanta Dream in Atlanta. ”
He continued to denounce Ibrahimovic’s hypocrisy, considering the comments he has made about racism in the past.
“It’s funny that he said that, because I believe that in 2018 he was the same guy who spoke when he was bad in Sweden, he spoke about the same things, because his surname was not a right surname, he felt that there was racism happening when he was in the field. “
He concluded by suggesting that he is not the person to attack in these matters. “I speak with a very polite mind,” said James. “So, I’m the wrong kind of guy because I do my homework.”
Ibrahimovic is known for being frank, but not in the same way as James. He was a member of the Los Angeles Galaxy for two seasons and the Swedish football star ran a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times when he joined the team that said “Dear Los Angeles, you’re welcome.”
The two occupied the same city for a short time, but apparently Ibrahimovic was not a fan of activism outside of James’ court at that time. He is far from the only person to criticize the Laker star for using his platform to promote social change. None of them managed to dissuade James and neither, it seems, did Ibrahimovic.