LeBron James needed only a few words to brush off President Donald Trump’s latest attack.
Hours after Trump accused the Philadelphia 76ers star of disrespecting the country during the national anthem, James shrugged off the criticism Thursday night, according to ESPN.
“It’s a slow news day at the office, you know,” James said. “Slow news day in the office.”
Trump had posted a video from the Sixers’ season opener against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. In it, James appeared to practice a golf swing and a jump shot while most of his teammates stood still during the anthem.
“I said right from the beginning that he’s no good, a TOTAL DISGRACE,” Trump 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!”
Sixers coach Nick Nurse also dismissed the president’s broadside before Thursday’s home opener.
“I think that goes right in with other outside noise we’ve already had,” Nurse said. “All I really care about is getting to the practice floor, getting them in the film room, getting them to the game floor.”
Trump’s outrage over anthem etiquette comes with some baggage. In 2020, the Miami Herald posted video of Trump at a Super Bowl watch party waving his hands as if conducting an orchestra during the anthem, and gesturing at others while those around him stood with their hands over their hearts.
The feud between the two men goes back years. In 2017, James called Trump “a bum” on Twitter and said it made him sick that the president “doesn’t understand how many kids, no matter the race, look up to the President of the United States for guidance, for leadership, for words of encouragement.”
That same year, James wore one black shoe and one white shoe, each emblazoned with “equality,” and declared after the game, “This is a beautiful country, and we’re never going to let one person dictate how beautiful and how powerful we are.”
When Fox News host Laura Ingraham told him in 2018 to “shut up and dribble,” James fired back: “We will definitely not shut up and dribble. I will definitely not do that. I mean too much to society.”
In 2020, James was named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year after leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a championship and helping drive first-time voters to the polls.
“I can make a greater impact off the floor right now, more than I can on the floor,” he said at the time.
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