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LeBron James is one of the most socially conscious athletes in the world. Whether it’s launching his “More Than a Vote” campaign to fight voter suppression, speaking out against gun violence, or even opening the “I Promise” school in Akron, Ohio, James didn’t. never hesitated to use his fame to help those less fortunate than him.
It brought him into conflict with politicians, media figures, fans and now, apparently, even another athlete. AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is known for voicing his opinion on any subject. In a recent interview with Discovery + in Sweden, that topic was James. Ibrahimovic believes LeBron should stick to the sport and has criticized the Los Angeles Lakers star’s social activism.
“(LeBron) is phenomenal at what he does, but I don’t like when people have some kind of status, they’re going to be in politics at the same time,” Ibrahimovic said. “Do what you’re good at. Do the category you do. I play football because I’m the best at football. I don’t play politics. If I were a political politician, I would be playing politics.
“This is the big first mistake people make when they get famous and become in a certain status. Stay out of it. Just do what you do best because it doesn’t look like it. good.”
James did not appreciate Ibrahimovic’s comments. In a lengthy post-match response, he reiterated that he would never just stick to the sport and would always use his platform to benefit his community.
“At the end of the day, I would never shut up about the things that were wrong. I preach on my people and I preach on inequality, social injustice, racism, systematic voter suppression, things that happen in our community because I was part of my community at one point and see the things happening, ”James said. “I know what’s still going on because I have a group of over 300 kids in my school who are going through the same thing and need a voice.
“I am their voice. I use my platform to continue to shed light on everything that may be happening not only in my community, but in this country and the world. There is no way I can stick to sports because I understand this platform and how powerful my voice is. You can just ask Renee Montgomery if I would have shut up and just dribbled, seeing this beautiful black woman today in a group where she is in an ownership group with Atlanta Dream down in Atlanta. ”
He then denounced Ibrahimovic’s hypocrisy given the comments he had made about racism in the past.
“It’s funny he said that, because I believe in 2018 he was the same guy who said when he was bad in Sweden he was talking about the same things, because his last name was not not a certain last name, he felt like there was racism there when he was on the pitch. “
He concluded by suggesting that he was not the person to attack on these issues. “I’m talking about a very educated mind,” James said. “So I’m kinda the wrong guy to go to because I’m doing my homework.”
Ibrahimovic is known for his outspokenness, but not in the same way as James. He was a member of the Los Angeles Galaxy for two seasons and the Swedish soccer star took out a full page ad in the Los Angeles Times joining the team that said “Dear Los Angeles, please.”
The two only occupied the same town for a short time, but apparently Ibrahimovic was not a fan of James’ out-of-court activism at the time. He is far from the only person to criticize the Laker star for using his platform to push for social change. None of them succeeded in dissuading James and, it seems, neither did Ibrahimovic.
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