NBA star LeBron James seemed touched when a young fan sitting courtside at a Cavaliers home game in Cleveland held up a sign recenty that read: “King James. You are more than an athlete #NeverShutUp.” The sign was a callback and rebuke to “journalist” Laura Ingraham’s racially coded suggestion that James should “Shut up and dribble” after the father of three made some unfavorable remarks about President Donald Trump.
After seeing the sign during the final minutes of the Cavaliers bout against the Phoenix Suns, James removed his arm guard and handed it to a Cavaliers security guard to give to the kid, before shooting the boy a thumbs up from across the court.
Beyond being a bit of a genius, cunning business person and a pure family man, James is a bigtime philanthropist. Just last year, the LeBron James Foundation has partnered with the Akron Ohio school board to open the “I Promise” School. The school will target kids who are at high risk of either falling behind or failing out of school completely.
The little boy wasn’t the only one who took notice of James’ gesture. As video of him giving away the band began to circulate on Twitter, fans from all over heaped praise onto the star.
It remains unlikely that LeBron James shuts up and equally unlikely that he stops being good to children.
LeBron gave his arm sleeve to a fan with a sign that said, “You Are More Than An Athlete" pic.twitter.com/VT9anQD1cS
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 14, 2018
Props to the kid for making the sign, and to LeBron for recognizing the kid.
It’s sad that the kid had to make the sign at all. Should be a given that athletes have the same right to express themselves as anyone else in this country. Especially a great humanitarian like LeBron. https://t.co/lKOF9iqlp7
— Khari Thompson (@_KhariThompson) March 14, 2018
Man, this is so many levels of great:
– great for LeBron to recognize and share a moment with that kid
– great for the kid to publicly share something he believes in
– great for the parent that supports his kid enough to have and share his own beliefs https://t.co/KJ0WVWmDKN— Ethan Joyce (@EthanJoyceWSJ) March 14, 2018
I wasn’t a LeBron fan when he entered the league at all. Over the years he has won me over and it has nothing to do with his play. He is the best ambassador of the game we have ever had. Never shied away from responsibility and community. Thank you @KingJames https://t.co/Uz67gM0Wug
— Kevin Standart 〽️ (@kstand40) March 14, 2018
