LeBron James

During an Uninterrupted “Rolling with the Champions” episode with Cari Champion, NBA superstars LeBron James and Kevin Durant criticized Donald Trump notably with James proclaiming that “doesn’t give a fuck about the people.” This comment in particular caught the ire of Trump’s media wing, Fox News as Laura Ingraham took to the airwaves on Thursday ranting over what was said by LeBron and KD further saying that the two NBA stars should ‘shut up and dribble’.

Here’s a short transcript of Ingraham’s comments from Awful Announcing:

All right, we’re gonna create a new banner: “This is a dumb jock alert.” NBA superstar Lebron James is talking politics again and this time it’s R-rated. Here’s his barely intelligible — not to mention ungrammatical — take on President Trump in a new ESPN podcast.

…I’m numb to this commentary, “like.” Must they run their mouths like that? Unfortunately, a lot of kids and some adults take these ignorant comments seriously. Look, there might be a cautionary lesson in LeBron for kids. This is what happens when you attempt to leave high school a year early to join the NBA. And it’s always unwise to seek political advice from someone who gets paid $100 million a year to bounce a ball. Oh, and LeBron and Kevin, you’re great players, but no one voted for you. Millions elected Trump to be their coach. So keep the political commentary to yourself, or as someone once said, shut up and dribble.

Ingraham is essentially talking out of her ass however one line that struck me was when she said ‘it’s always unwise to seek political advise from someone who gets paid $100 million a year to bounce a ball.’ Ironic I know since Ingram I’m sure spent a vote on a reality television star for President of the United States. Not to mention that ‘barely intelligible’ crack… has Ingram read Donald Trump’s tweets?

Anyways, James and Durant both responded to Ingraham.

First, James took to Instagram and Twitter Friday night with the hashtag #wewillnotshutupandribble with a picture of a neon sign that said “I am more than an athlete”.

#wewillnotshutupanddribble

A post shared by LeBron James (@kingjames) on

Meanwhile Durant told USA Today’s Sam Amick that he thought Ingraham’s comments were “racist” and “ignorant”.

While Ingraham would later put out a statement claiming there was “no racial intent” behind her words, Durant simply doesn’t agree.

“To me, it was racist,” he said while shaking his head.

Q: So how did her comments hit you when you first heard them?

A: “It didn’t hit me. Ignorance is something I try to ignore. That was definitely an ignorant comment. I do play basketball, but I am a civilian and I am a citizen of the United States, so my voice is just as loud as hers, I think – or even louder. I can’t focus on that. I think we’re doing some good things out here, using our platform, and I think what me and LeBron did with Uber (and UNINTERRUPTED) the other day when it came out, I thought it was great. I thought a lot of people enjoyed it.

I’m not sure if Ingraham’s comments were racist however I didn’t see her going after Chris Long of the Philadelphia Eagles on Twitter, but I admit if she did that’s something I missed.

But speaking of Long, his response to Ingraham was spot on to point out what I assume is going to be a hypocrisy.

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