LeBron James HAS BEEN BASKETBALL’S BEST PLAYER FOR THE BETTER PART OF14 YEARS. BUT IT’S HIS WORK OFF THE COURT—IN BUSINESS, IN MOVIES, AND INCREASINGLY IN POLITICS—THAT WILL DEFINE THE DEPTH OF HIS GREATNESS. WE TAILED THE KING FROM L.A. TO NEW YORK TO TORONTO AND BACK AGAIN, TALKING LEBRON INC., MJ, CLEVELAND, RACE, AND THE MAN WE’D COME TO KNOW SIMPLY AS “U BUM”
TEN DAYS BEFORE Donald Trump took on Colin Kaepernick and the NFL and Stephen Curry and the NBA, and before LeBron James, one of the most famous and popular humans in America, called the president of the United States a “bum” on Twitter, I asked him if he thought his adversarial stance against Trump might end up being for him what the Vietnam War was for Muhammad Ali.
“Well,” he said, “I think only time will tell.”
How so?
“I think Ali represented something bigger than Ali. He wanted to make a change for a future without him included. That’s what Ali brought to the table. I don’t know what it’s like to live in every state in this country, but I know freedom. I know the opportunity that our country has given people, and to see the guy in charge now not understanding that is baffling to not only myself but to my friends and to the people that’ve helped grow this country. But Muhammad Ali’s correlation to the war… I don’t think me and Donald Trump could ever get to that point.”
ON THE ONE HAND, appraising the greatness of an athlete is an incredibly easy thing to do. There are seasons and statistics and big plays and rings. There are streaks and records and head-to-head matchups and end-of-season accolades. The data, the video clips, the testimonials—it’s all there to compare across time. The games don’t change as much as other things in society change, and so we can make strong cases, we can make cross-generational arguments, we can say things like: LeBron James is the greatest living athlete. Based on what he’s done on the court thus far and what he still could potentially do in years to come.
Bu hikaye GQ dergisinin November 2017 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye GQ dergisinin November 2017 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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