LeBron James Is Right And George Hill Is Wrong About ‘Black Lives Matter’ Response From Inside Of NBA Bubble

Their goals are the same, along with their passion, especially given the epidemic of African American men and women dying at the hands (and even the knees) of law enforcement officers.

Simply put, George Hill of the Milwaukee Bucks and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers want the most efficient way for athletes to turn the Black Lives Matter movement into action more than words.

It’s just that Hill’s plan is wrong.

Well, compared to that of James.

Here we are, exactly three months after a Minneapolis cop used his knee for nearly eight minutes to choke the life out of George Floyd, and courtesy of overzealous, inadequately trained or just-plain racist law enforcement people, senseless killings of Blacks keep happening while video cameras roll in the background.

Just within the past five days, police officers in Lafayette, Louisiana fired at least 11 shots at the back of 31-year-old Trayford Pellerin, and he didn’t survive.

Then came Sunday in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where Jacob Blake walked away from cops toward his SUV carrying his three sons (ages 3, 5 and 8).

Seven or eight bullets later, he collapsed.

As of this writing, Blake is in stable condition, with paralysis below his waist.

“We can’t do anything [from Orlando],” Hill told reporters Monday, suggesting members of the Bucks, the Lakers and other NBA playoff teams are hampered in the fight against police brutality since the league is seeking protection from COVID-19 by operating in seclusion at Disney World.

“First of all, we shouldn’t have even come to this damn place, to be honest. I think coming here just took all the focal points off what the issues are.”

Wrong.

Collectively and individually, NBA officials, coaches and players are doing much regarding their push for social justice, starting with messaging.

It’s everywhere.

The NBA’s prime-time playoff games this season have averaged 2.74 million viewers, and Sports Illustrated said that’s a 16% increase from the 2019 playoffs at this point. So a bunch of eyes see the words “Black Lives Matter” on the court before, during and after opening tipoffs.

Players have replaced their names on the back of their jerseys with social justice pleas, ranging from “Say Their Names” and “I Can’t Breathe” to “I Am A Man” and “Listen to Us.”

Here’s the biggest thing: Rarely has an interview concluded inside of this so-called “NBA bubble” without coaches and players remembering the whole world is watching. They’ve often replaced talk about picks and rolls with disdain over, say, a weapon-less Blake getting pounded with shots after cops responded to a domestic dispute that showed no signs of escalating.

Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer addressed the Blake situation Monday during his opening statement to reporters after his team’s Game 4 victory over the Orlando Magic: “We need to have change. We need to do better.”

Others inside the bubble weren’t as diplomatic.

“I know people get tired of hearing me say it, but we are scared as Black people in America,” James told reporters Monday after the Lakers’ Game 4 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. “Black men, Black women, Black kids, we are terrified.”

Eric Garner.

Michael Brown.

Freddie Gray.

Tamir Rice.

Breonna Taylor.

Those were just some of the Black folks killed by cops in questionable ways during the past six years. To hear Hill, Mitchell and others tell it, NBA players could help the situation more by expressing their disdain for such horrors outside of the bubble.

OK, but how would they do that by not playing? They would lack the attention they’re getting now as dribblers and spokespersons against police brutality.

Maybe Hill, Mitchell and others prefer to keep playing and advocating for social justice outside of the bubble in their own cities.

That wouldn’t work.

See baseball, where they don’t have a bubble, and where cancellations of games are rampant due to players testing positive for COVID-19 like crazy.

The NBA has spent more than a month inside of its bubble.

How many positive tests?

Zero.

Which means there are more opportunities these days for NBA coaches and players to expresss their outrage to the masses before the Orlando spotlight once reserved for Mickey, Minnie and Donald.

“I still have a job to do because I’m here, because I committed, and when I commit to something, I feel like I have to come through,” James told reporters. “That’s just who I am. But that does not mean that I don’t see what’s going on and I won’t say anything or continue to use my platform, continue to use my voice and continue to uplift all of the other athletes to let them know that they can say and do what’s right and not fear what other people’s opinions are.”

James make sense.

You know, more than a bunch of bullets from wrongheaded cops heading for a Black person’s back.