Colby Covington has come for the neck of LeBron James following his NBA game boycott, as he called him “soft” and challenged him to take a pay cut and try the hardest job in America: being a police officer.
The upcoming NBA games on August 26 have been postponed as players protest the recent murder of Jacob Blake, a black man who was shot seven times in the back on Sunday by police in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
On social media, NBA star LeBron James corrected the NBA for labelling the delayed event as “postponed”, instead he said the event had been “boycotted” in reaction to police brutality, especially against individuals of African-American descent. If no progress is made in reaction to the players’ protest, Adam Silver (the current commissioner of the organization) might have to cancel the season altogether.
James’ act of defiance rubbed Covington the wrong way as he called the basketball player out on Twitter.
Oh wow, you postponed your games?! Wanna prove you’re really about change? Quit your multi million dollar jobs and soft privileged lives playing a kids game, take a massive pay cut and perform the toughest job in America. Become cops!!!! @NBA @MLB @KingJames
— Colby Covington (@ColbyCovMMA) August 27, 2020
“Oh wow, you postponed your games?! Wanna prove you’re really about change? Quit your multi-million dollar jobs and soft privileged lives playing a kids game, take a massive pay cut and perform the toughest job in America. Become cops!!!!”
This isn’t the first time Colby Covington has taken issue with LeBron James’ public statements. In 2019, he called the Los Angeles Lakers star out for his comments relating to the pro-democracy protests in China.
In a deleted tweet, manager of the Houston Rockets, Daryl Morey, said he supported pro-democracy protests in China. As China is a communist country, Morey’s comments spawned a ton of backlash and he ultimately was forced to issue an apology.
LeBron James gave his take on Morey’s comments and suggested that he was not educated on the situation. The basketball player said Morey was “misinformed” during a press conference at a pre-game interview in Los Angeles on Monday.
“I don’t want to get into a word or sentence feud with Daryl Morey. But I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand and he spoke.
“We do all have freedom of speech, but at times there are ramifications for the negative that can happen when you’re not thinking about others and you’re only thinking about yourself,” he said (transcript via The BBC).
James’ comments angered pro-democratic activists and received a great deal of backlash online. Hong Kong protesters gathered to chant support for Morey’s Twitter comments and insulted the basketball player.
Colby Covington fired back by reminding him of the right to freedom of speech and insulted his education level.
.@KingJames please enlighten us with your high school education about what kind of “consequences and ramifications” come from FREEDOM junior!? 🇺🇸🦅🇺🇸 https://t.co/5U5nwo4XVf
— Colby Covington (@ColbyCovMMA) October 15, 2019
“@KingJames please enlighten us with your high school education about what kind of ‘consequences and ramifications’ come from FREEDOM junior!?”
What do you think of Colby Covington’s latest comments to LeBron James?