The NBA All-Star Game kicked-off Sunday night with an interview between Vice President Kamala Harris and ‘Creed’ and ‘Black Panther’ actor Michael B. Jordan.
“There are two things that led me to where I am at today,” Harris said. “My family and the HBCU I attended which was Howard University. I’m so happy that the NBA is celebrating our HBCUs.”
Tonight, TNT’s 2021 #NBAAllStar Game coverage will open with a special conversation between Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP Harris) and award-winning actor Michael B. Jordan (@michaelb4jordan) at 8 PM ET. pic.twitter.com/3xqcG5sMnr
— NBA (@NBA) March 7, 2021
Vice President Kamala Harris and Michael B. Jordan Discuss HBCUs and COVID Vaccines Before NBA All-Star Game https://t.co/7St6v2BADo
— People (@people) March 8, 2021
WATCH: Kamala Harris and Michael B. Jordan Open NBA All Star Game By Encouraging Vaccinations and Praising HBCUshttps://t.co/0WRfe6Rywr
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) March 8, 2021
“Right now Michael, I’m urging everyone to get the vaccine when it is your turn. I’ve taken the vaccine,” Harris said. “It’s about understanding that it’s bigger than you because it really is an extension of love thy neighbor and it will save their life.”
“The players were the leaders who showed everyone for the sake of the team, for the sake of the whole, you make certain sacrifices. They did their thing!” added the Vice President.
BACKLASH: USA Today Calls LeBron James’ China Defense ‘Most Disgraceful Moment of His Career’
The backlash against NBA superstar LeBron James reached a fever-pitch Tuesday afternoon, with a major American newspaper calling his pro-China comments the “most disgraceful moment of his career.”
“On behalf of the 327 million American citizens who generally believe that freedom is good and authoritarian regimes are less good, let me apologize to LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers,” writes Dan Wolken.
“It must have been a real inconvenience to take that 13-hour chartered flight to China last week and hang around a luxury hotel in Shanghai for five days while promotional appearances got canceled. Surely it was awful to be in the middle of an international firestorm where the stakes were so high: Would preseason NBA games be played or not?” adds the author.
Hong Kong protesters slam LeBron James for comments about China, free speech https://t.co/LsukqStgei pic.twitter.com/TcKkc3p2Nw
— New York Post (@nypost) October 15, 2019
LeBron James on if Daryl Morey should be reprimanded for his tweet pic.twitter.com/6hCE8vCyNn
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) October 15, 2019
“LeBron, we’ve come to expect more of you. You’re obviously an intelligent person, a compassionate person and a socially conscious person. At this point in your life and career, it’s part of your brand. But to present that face to an American audience while essentially admitting that all you care about when it comes to the rest of the world is cashing those big checks — well, let’s just say it doesn’t look very good on you,” writes Wolken.
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.
— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 15, 2019
Read the full report at USA Today.
Bowing to Beijing? LeBron James Defends China, Says Pro-Democracy Tweets ‘Misinformed’
Basketball superstar LeBron James found himself in hot-water this week after defending the Chinese government in the league’s latest Hong Kong Scandal; calling pro-Democracy tweets “misinformed.”
“Basketball superstar LeBron James was accused of turning a blind eye to Chinese repression on Tuesday after he criticized a Houston Rockets executive for angering China with a ‘misinformed’ tweet supporting protesters in Hong Kong,” reports Yahoo Sports.
“James told reporters that Rockets general manager Daryl Morey ‘wasn’t educated’ on Hong Kong and should have kept his mouth shut, as the outspoken Lakers forward waded into a charged debate that other high-profile NBA figures have shied away from,” adds Yahoo.
“So many people could have been harmed not only financially but physically, emotionally and spiritually. So just be careful with what we tweet, and we say, and we do,” James told reporters.
.@KingJames — you’re parroting communist propaganda. China is running torture camps and you know it. #GoogleUyghurs https://t.co/BExRpi02EB
— Senator Ben Sasse (@SenSasse) October 15, 2019
“You’re parroting communist propaganda. China is running torture camps and you know it,” posted Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse.
Read the full report here.