In many ways I’m an admirer of Lebron James. I think he’s been an admirable role model as an athlete. He respects his craft and works hard to develop his game and keep himself in the best possible shape. By all appearances he’s a devoted family man, as both a father and husband. He was raised by a single mother and seems considerate and respectful of the sacrifices she made for him. He seems grateful.
Some call Lebron James arrogant and selfish, but for a guy who has been praised and pandered to since he was a mere child, he seems remarkably levelheaded. I’ve played pick-up ball with guys with one thousandth of his talent who were more arrogant, selfish, and self-centered on the court. His teammates seem to love him.
In October of this year the center for the Boston Celtics, Enes Kanter, called out Lebron James via Twitter for his business ties with Nike. In fact, Kanter called out James and Nike’s founder Phil Knight for what Kanter rightfully sees as Nike’s business dealings with China putting “money before morals.” Because James is the NBA’s elder statesman and arguably one of the NBA’s most recognizable figures and successful players ever, Kanter’s criticism was noteworthy, so noteworthy that the network in China that carries NBA games has stopped broadcasting Celtics games. The Chinese Communist Party brooks no criticism, from its own people or those abroad.
As a Muslim of Turkish descent, Kanter focused on the CCP’s treatment of the Uyghurs, China’s own Turkish-Muslim minority. But Kanter has also spoken out about China’s treatment of the people in Tibet and Hong Kong, and about China’s organ harvesting of their own Han Chinese Falun Gong practitioners. Importantly, Kanter has also called out prominent Muslim athletes for their silence about the CCP’s treatment of the Uyghurs and is critical of the authoritarian regime in Turkey.
James is of course a public figure as a professional athlete. He often gives interviews. Not the staged interviews that so many prominent figures give, with a single questioner asking softball questions. James sits post-game at a table in front of a room full of reporters, or on a courtside chair after practice with five to ten reporters, and answers their questions. When he does his real work, performing on the basketball court before thousands of people in person and in front of millions on TV 80 to 100 times a year, he does so without handlers and escorts. For James there really is no hiding. He has to be accountable, at least to some extent.
So what has James said publicly about the criticism from Kanter? Really very little. James said he doesn’t spend his energy on guys like Enes Kanter, Kanter is using James’ name to advance his own causes, and if Kanter had an issue with him Kanter should have come to James in person. Nothing at all really about the substance of Kanter’s criticism. Certainly nothing refuting Kanter’s criticism of China, the CCP, or Xi Jinping, the man Kanter called a “brutal dictator.” But what could James say?
Certainly, Lebron James is not the only one making money off of business transactions done with the brutal Communist dictatorship in China. James signed an endorsement deal with Nike which makes shoes and other apparel in China. Phil Knight is the largest shareholder, co-founder and chairman emeritus of Nike. Nike products, along with hundreds of thousands of other products manufactured in China, are sold at Walmart and Amazon. Walmart’s largest shareholders are the children of the founder, Sam Walton. Amazon’s largest shareholder is Jeff Bezos. Phil Knight, the Walton children, and Jeff Bezos are all multibillionaires who have made exponentially more money off of China than James. None have said a word, that I could find, critical of the human rights abuses by the CCP against its citizens. None have said a word publicly, again that I have found, defending James or Nike. Knight’s own company, the company he has spent his life building, has been called out for doing business in China and has said nothing either to defend Knight and James, or critical of continuing human rights abuses in China.
In reality, its hard to find a company of note in the United States that has not, to use Kanter’s phrase, put “money over morals.” Walmart says the following on their website.
Walmart has been at the forefront of retail modernization in China since 1996, when we opened a hypermarket and Sam’s Club in Shenzhen. We now serve communities nationwide as a leader in omnichannel retail. We delight customers through nearly 400 stores and clubs as well as multiple e-commerce platforms.
Disney offers another example, from the Adventures By Disney website:
Marvel at the traditions, natural wonders and vibrant history of China. Discover how it has maintained its rich cultural identity while becoming a force in the modern world as you visit magnificent destinations that include the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, as well as Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disney Resort!
I’m a member of the Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints. One of the Church’s most prominent families is the Marriott family, of the Marriott Hotel fame. Brigham Young University, the Church founded and funded four-year university, plays their basketball games at the Marriott Center on campus. In 2018 Marriott reportedly fired an employee in their public relations department that “liked” a tweet that called Tibet a country. Marriott International recently announced their one hundredth hotel in China. From Marriott’s website:
Explore the beautiful history and culture [of China] while visiting the Terracotta Army, Great Wall and mouth-watering eateries during your stay at one of our China hotels.
We can all be very certain that all of these companies are very careful not to offend their benefactor, Xi Jinping and the CCP. No slight is too small to upset our censors in the CCP and everyone who does business with the CCP knows it. Of course, what censorship and deceptions go on behind the curtain we mere consumers of goods and information have little chance of knowing. Everyone has learned to keep their mouths shut and their heads down, so as not to risk their piece of the pie.
Unlike Lebron James, Phil Knight will never stand before a group of reporters and answer questions about Nike’s business practices in China. The same goes for members of the Walton family of Walmart, the members of the Marriott family, the CEO of Disney, Bob Chapek, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, and countless others doing business with and investing in China. None of these fine and upstanding leaders of our largest and most powerful businesses will say anything about China other than banalities like those quoted above. None of these multibillionaires ever do the kind of interviews that James does on a regular basis. There really is nothing they can say.
These leaders cannot say China is not a brutal dictatorship because the accusations and allegations are too well documented, and the reality is too stark to deny. But they also can’t admit the truth they all know, and we all know. The price extracted for truthfulness by the CCP is a cost they, and we, are not willing to pay. James may have made and will make tens of millions off his endorsement deal with Nike, but others outside the public eye have made collectively hundreds of billions of dollars doing business with the Chinese Communist Party. Lebron James serves nicely as their scapegoat in the media.
As they, and we, all remain silent and continue on with the charade.