From Newsgroup: alt.sports.basketball.nba

On Wednesday, reports surfaced that the Los Angeles Lakers, led by
LeBron James, were going to boycott the rest of the NBA playoffs to
protest racial inequality and police brutality, but on Thursday, a
sudden change occurred, as reports indicated James and co. decided to
keep playing instead.

Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported on Thursday night:

Ever since the league suspended play on March 11 due to the
coronavirus, James had been an advocate for resuming play if
proper health and safety protocols allowed for it. But in
WednesdayAs meeting, players began seeing a shift in his
position when he agreed to go with whatever the majority
decided, sources said.

With emotions all over the place, Haslem pressed James and
asked the star what he planned to do, reminding him that heAs
the face of the league and it goes as he goes, sources said.
James then said, oWeAre out,o and walked out with almost all
of his teammates following behind, sources said, wit Howard
being the only Laker who remained.

Haynes noted that on Thursday, the NBA players met again, this time
deciding to continue the season.

The quick reversal of plans triggered actor James Woods to offer one
possible reason for JamesA apparent shift, as he tweeted, oHis China
handlers didnAt like the optics?o

https://twitter.com/RealJamesWoods/status/1299356993061179394

WoodsA reference to China and James revolves around the fact that
JamesA initial comments after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl
Morey supporting pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong were highly
critical.

oWe all talk about this freedom of speech u yes, we all do have freedom
of speech, but at times there are ramifications for the negative that
can happen when youAre not thinking about others and only thinking
about yourself,o said James. oI donAt want to get into a word or
sentence feud with Daryl Morey, but I believe he wasnAt educated on the situation at hand,o adding later, oSo many people could have been
harmed not only financially, but physically, emotionally, spiritually.o

After MoreyAs comment, ESPN wrote, oThe issue of ChinaAs sovereignty
had been drilled into Team USA players who traveled to China for the
FIBA World Cup just weeks before. One player from USA Basketball told
ESPN that he acouldnAt believeA Morey would take on the issue with a
tweet after the way Team USA was warned about its complications.o

Sports Illustrated noted the intimate connection between China and the
NBA, writing, oThe league has a $1.5 billion contract with Chinese tech
giant Tencent as well as relationships with ChinaAs CCTV Sports
Channel, the smartphone company Vivo and other Chinese companies. These
deals could eventually provide the NBA with billions of dollars in revenueudollars that, under the collective bargaining agreement, would
be shared with NBA players through higher salary caps and higher player salaries.o

Fox Business reported of James and China, oHe holds a lifetime deal
valued at $1 billion with sports retail giant Nike, which saw its sales
in China surge 27 percent to nearly $1.7 billion in its most recent
fiscal quarter alone. JamesA signature sneaker line is one of NikeAs
most prominent offerings.o


--
"It took a worldwide pandemic. It took a 35% plunge in the stock
market. It took quarantining. It took many small businesses closing. It
took canceling practically everything, to bring the USA economy back to
the Obama high mark."


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