LeBron James had a short answer for Donald Trump after Trump called him a “total disgrace” and demanded an apology over his movements during the national anthem.
Video:
Asked about it after the Philadelphia 76ers’ 114 to 106 comeback win over the Cleveland Cavaliers Thursday night, James kept it to one line. “Must have been a slow news day in the office,” he told reporters. “Slow news day at the office.”
He did not apologize. He did not explain himself. He called it a slow news day and moved on.
It started with a video from the Sixers’ season opener against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, October 20. While the anthem played, James was seen moving around in line with his teammates, at one point swinging his arms like he was working on his golf swing and at another mimicking a jump shot.
Trump posted the clip on Truth Social Thursday. “While listening to our National Anthem, LeBron James disrespects our Country! I said right from the beginning that he’s no good, a TOTAL DISGRACE,” he wrote. “LeBron James should apologize to all of those Great American Warriors and Heroes who died for the American Flag, and all that our Country stands for!”
Trump didn’t leave it on social media. At a rally in Iowa that same day, he brought up the incident again, calling it “a big scandal kind of a story,” and also went after WNBA teams that have left the court before the anthem. The rally was part of his campaign push ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
By the time Thursday’s game tipped off in Philadelphia, James stood noticeably more still for the anthem. Then he helped the Sixers rally past Cleveland and handled the Trump question in a matter of seconds. Sixers coach Nick Nurse treated it the same way, grouping Trump’s comments with every other outside distraction and saying his focus stays on practice and film.
James, 41, is in his 24th NBA season, a league record, and his first in Philadelphia.
This is far from the first round between him and Trump. In 2017, after Trump said Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors were no longer invited to the White House, James called Trump a “bum” on social media and later said Trump was trying to use sports to divide the country. In 2018, after James sat down with Don Lemon to talk about his I Promise School, the public school he opened in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, Trump tweeted that Lemon was “the dumbest man on television” and that he “made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do,” adding “I like Mike!” in a line widely read as a dig through Michael Jordan. Jordan answered with a statement saying he supports James and that James was doing an amazing job for his community.
