Recently, NBA superstars Lebron James and Kevin Durant appeared in a video on “Uninterrupted” where they discussed their experience playing in the NBA, parenthood and politics. Both athletes also spoke elaborately about leadership and President Donald Trump.
In his statements, Lebron James suggested that the current political climate in the United States was hot, and the leader of the country (President Trump) was someone who did not understand or give a f#ck about the people. James also suggested that there were three people whom he looked up to for inspiration as a kid: The best athlete and musician, and the president of the United States. James explained that, “You never thought you could be them, but you can grab inspiration from.” He continued and made the claim that since no one can change what comes out of President Trump’s mouth, it’s important to alert people that watch and listen to athletes, that this is not the way to go (referring to President Trump’s behavior).
Kevin Durant also stated that he learned a lot of skills from playing basketball. Among the most important for him was leadership. He said, “You need to empower people, encourage people. And that’s what builds a great team. And I feel like our team, as a country, is not run by a great coach.”
In response to James and Durant’s criticism of the president, Fox News host Laura Ingraham fired back at them in a segment on her show, The Ingraham Angle. In her monologue, Ingraham called the athletes’ comments “barely intelligible and ungrammatical.” She also asserted that “This is what happens when athletes attempt to leave high school a year early to play in the NBA.” Ingraham suggested that it was unwise to seek political advice from star athletes like James and Durant who get paid $100 million dollars to play basketball. Ingraham then ended her soliloquy with the catchphrase “shut-up and dribble,” which is a play on the title of her book “Shut-up and Sing: How Elites from Hollywood, Politics, and the UN Are Subverting America.”
Since Ingraham’s comments, she has faced a plethora of criticism. In addition, her comments have also caused dozens of hours of debate on sports media channels, like Fox News, and most recently, CNN. Some critics have even called Ingraham’s comments racist.
In defense to this allegation, Ingraham dedicated another segment of her show to debunking those allegations and explaining that no one is exempt from criticism when they make public comments about politics and public officials. Throughout the segment, Ingraham played video clips and sound bites of her critiquing other celebrities when they made similar comments in the media about politics, and her catchphrase was the same: shut up and do whatever your occupation is.
Ingraham is right when she asserted that if James and Durant are going to make statements about politics and public officials, they should expect criticism from people who disagree with them. However, they are not deserving of the title “unintelligent” just because she doesn’t agree with them. In response to Ingraham, Lebron James went to Instagram and posted a picture saying, “I am more than an athlete.” He later explained that he means a lot to many people, and he will not stay silent on social issues.
Ingraham is an accomplished journalist who is well educated in politics. As she pointed out, she has been consistent in her criticism of celebrities who have made public statements about politics. However, if everyone were to follow Ingraham’s logic, an important question to ask is, who’s eligible to talk about politics? Is it only pundits on news networks, academics, and professionals who work in politics? If this is the standard and the prerequisite, many people would not qualify, especially working-class Americans who work in industries other than politics. This sort of logic is flawed. In the past, Fox news has had farmers, sports team managers, and many celebrities as pundits on their show.
In Ingraham’s rebuttal to the accusation of being racist, she had a NFL player as a guest giving political commentary on identity politics, liberals, and the state of black America. If athletes should shut up and dribble, why did she give Burgess Owens a platform to speak? Was it to show that she has nothing against athletes or African Americans? Through Owens presence on the show, it’s clear that the only athletes and celebrities who are qualified to give their opinions are those who share similar beliefs to her.
Throughout the entire course of the video, James and Durant never uttered a word about specific policy. Their critique was about the president’s behavior and speech. The athletes asserted that it’s both scary and laughable when the president says something vile because it is not surprising anymore.
Discourse about being disappointed in the president’s behavior is not a new conversation. Many intellectual liberals and conservatives have offered commentary and criticism on President Trump’s behavior and speech. James and Durant echoed that same sentiment. They want a more reverent leader. As mentioned before, James explained that growing up, a president was someone he looked to for inspiration. Why is this statement unintelligent? Through Laura Ingraham, conservatives have adopted a behavior of intolerance toward people who disagree with them. It’s the same behavior they have accused liberals of. Now it has escalated to a point where difference in opinion merits personal attacks on people’s intelligence. How did we get here?