President Donald Trump made headlines late Friday night when he put three-time NBA champion LeBron James on blast through social media.
In responding to James’ interview with Don Lemon of CNN, Trump questioned the intelligence level of the two professionals.
Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do. I like Mike!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 4, 2018
To many, this was seen as a disgusting attack on a man in King James that just recently opened up a school for those less fortunate in his home community. Since then, many have lobbed praise in James’ direction.
Not Mr. Trump. Instead, he decided to go after James’ intelligence level. That hasn’t sat well with most throughout the sports world, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver now included.
Here’s what Silver had to say in response to POTUS and in support of the NBA’s best player.
Statement to USA TODAY Sports from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who is in Johannesburg, South Africa for the third NBA Africa Game (in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation), in response to President Trump’s tweet about LeBron James and CNN’s Don Lemon pic.twitter.com/5Q01VX0bt6
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) August 4, 2018
It’s no surprise that Silver would throw his support behind James. Masked somewhat due to the NFL’s national anthem controversy, there’s been a growing divide between the NBA and the White House.
Trump’s tweet and the league’s response will only add to that moving forward.