On Sunday, conservative pundit Candace Owens offered a dismissive response toward Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James concerning his efforts on social justice issues.
Owens, who like James is African-American, appeared on Mark Levin’s weekend show “Life, Liberty and Levin” and attacked James for taking such an approach while living in a mansion.
“I always say, if you’re suffering through racism, please give me some of that,” Owens said.
“He’s got a White gardener, a White chef, all various White people that work for him, White driver. So if that’s racism, LeBron, please, please share some of that with the rest of us.”
James has been a very vocal critic over issues related to police brutality toward African-Americans and has also been a severe critic of President Donald Trump, who Owens and Levin enthusiastically support.
The remarks by Owens are the latest instance of a conservative attacking James for using his First Amendment rights on political issues.
In May of this year, Levin took issue with comments made by James in the wake of the death of George Floyd and the controversy surrounding former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Prior to those remarks, Fox News host Laura Ingraham attacked James for his critical comments toward Trump, stating that he should just “shut up and dribble.”
Trump himself has taken time to criticize James, even though he had lauded James when he was winning back-to-back championships with the Miami Heat.
It’s likely that James will simply ignore Owens’ comments since he’s rarely responded to similar public criticism. In addition, he’s preparing to lead the Lakers as they begin the Western Conference finals later this week.
The Lakers and James will find out their opponent on Tuesday night when the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets play a decisive Game 7 of their second-round series.
