As we all know, LeBron James is not afraid to let his feelings be known on a particular topic, whether it’s dealing with sports or politics. In this case, it’s dealing with both.
On Tuesday, a trailer was released for the latest episode of The Shop, where LeBron James and two of his business partners, Paul Rivera and Maverick Carter, sit down along with guests in a barbershop and have conversations and debates on just about anything.
In the trailer for the latest episode, which features actor Daniel Kaluuya, soccer player Marcus Rashford and artist Rashid Johnson, you can hear the panel discuss Brittney Griner’s situation in Russia. James, in particular, had some interesting comments when he said, “She’s been there over 110 days. Now, how could she feel like America has her back? I would be feeling like, ‘Do I even want to go back to America?’”
As you would imagine, people ran with the comments and were critical of James. Instead of waiting for the full episode to drop on Friday to give people context on his comments, the NBA superstar decided to tweet a response walking back his previous words on BG.
In a tweet, James clarified that he was trying to sympathize with Griner’s situation and not criticize the U.S. “My comments on “The Shop” regarding Brittney Griner wasn’t knocking our beautiful country. I was simply saying how she’s probably feeling emotionally along with so many other emotions, thoughts, etc inside that cage she’s been in for over 100+ days! Long story short #BringHerHome.”
He ended his Twitter thread with, “#FreeBG.”
James previously Tweeted about Griner in June urging athletes to use their voice and influence to help get the WNBA star back home.
Last week, the head coach of the Phoenix Mercury, Vanessa Nygaard, suggested that if James was the one who was detained in Russia, he would already be stateside by now. “If it was LeBron, he’d be home, right?,” she asked. “It’s a statement about the value of women. It’s a statement about the value of a Black person. It’s a statement about the value of a gay person. All of those things. We know it, and so that’s what hurts a little more.”
Last week, Griner penned a letter to President Biden pleading for assistance to get back home saying, “please don’t forget about me and the other American Detainees.”
The WNBA center was arrested on Feb. 17 at a Moscow airport for having vape cartridges that allegedly contained hash oil, which is illegal in the country. She was charged with illegal crossing of a customs border with illegal narcotics and faces up to 10 years in prison.