US President Donald Trump suggested LeBron James 'maybe' is a racist when asked whether the basketball star is the greatest ever to play the game, offering faint praise for James and a full-throated endorsement of Michael Jordan instead.
"I think LeBron is, maybe he's a racist, but maybe he doesn't like Trump. I don't know. I only like people that like me." — Donald Trump
James, 41, announced on Friday that he would continue his career with the Philadelphia 76ers. Asked at a White House news conference to compare the two, Trump pointed to his friendship with Jordan, 63, who won six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls and five Most Valuable Player awards. 'I play golf with him. He's a really good guy,' Trump said, before turning to James.
James has not responded to the remark and has been a regular critic of Trump, endorsing Democrats Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in their campaigns against him, and in 2017 calling him 'a bum' after a dispute over White House invitations for title-winning teams. The comment revives a political friction that has trailed James throughout his career.
James has won four NBA titles — twice with the Miami Heat, once each with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Lakers — and been named MVP four times. He is the league's all-time leader in points and games played, and now chases a fifth title with a 76ers side that also features Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown. 'I believe I can help make the Philadelphia 76ers a championship team,' he wrote.
The episode is a reminder of how readily sport and politics collide in the current climate. Whatever one makes of the ranking debate, James's standing as the sport's leading scorer means the argument over his place in history will outlast any single comment — and the 76ers' season now arrives with an extra layer of scrutiny.
Beyond the result, the contest will be assessed for what it reveals about form, fitness, and the margins that separate the very best when the stakes are highest.
The wider calendar now comes into focus, with coaches and analysts already projecting how this performance shapes the narrative heading into the next fixture.
In the dressing room, the mood swings between relief and resolve, the kind that follows a result that could have gone either way until the final moments.
Rivals will have noted the vulnerabilities exposed under pressure, filing them away for the rematches that the season's structure all but guarantees.
