LeBron James thanks Laura Ingraham a year after ‘shut up and dribble’
A year ago, just before the NBA All-Star Game, megastar LeBron James was told to stay out of politics.
It didn’t work and James thanked the woman again on Saturday for helping him spread his values and beliefs.
A brief recap: Last February, James did an interview along with Kevin Durant that aired on uninterrupted.com in which he questioned the leadership of President Donald Trump, calling some of Trump’s public statements “laughable and scary.”
That sparked conservative Fox News host Laura Ingraham to opine during her show that James should just “shut up and dribble,” and stay out of politics. She prefaced her piece by saying “dumb jock alert,” and mocked the grammar used by James and Durant.
“No one voted for you, millions elected Trump to be their coach,” Ingraham said. “So keep the political commentary to yourself, or as someone once said, ‘shut up and dribble.’”
Ingraham was referencing her own 2003 book “Shut Up & Sing,” which decries so-called “elites” from Hollywood and elsewhere ruining America.
“I knew at that moment it was bigger than basketball and I had to say something, because it wasn’t just about me, it was about all of us,” James said during Saturday’s All-Star Weekend media day.
“They’ll be telling you guys to shut up and just write. Or just shut up and be a doctor, or shut up and be a lawyer or just shut up and be a teacher or just shut up and do whatever your occupation is. I think that’s unfair to all of us because we are so much more than what our occupation says or what our name tag says.”
At that time, James’ only response on social media was tweeting the hashtag “wewillnotshutupanddribble.”
He said the “shut up and dribble” remark was a reminder and a wake-up call.
“I think it has not only resonated with me but I think it resonated with a lot of people to be able to feel like they can be more,” he said. “I thanked her for that moment. And we should all thank her.
“You have to appreciate anything that comes along no matter if it’s good or bad because it helps you learn, helps you become better at who you are, it helps get you more of an understanding of what the situation is at that point in time.”
This story was originally published February 17, 2019 at 6:36 PM.
