Obama congratulates LeBron James on his NBA title, praises him for fighting for social justice
The former president commended James for being a leader on and off the court.
On Monday (Oct. 12), Barack Obama congratulated LeBron James following his NBA championship win and praised him for his overall work to make this country a better place.
“Proud of my friend @KingJames for his fourth title, fourth Finals MVP, and for not only living up to the hype after seventeen seasons, but surpassing it as an extraordinary leader both on the court and in the public arena fighting for education, social justice, and our democracy,” said the former president.
On Sunday (Oct. 11), the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Miami Heat 106-93 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. The win ended the series and became the 17th NBA title for the team. Following the win, Obama took to Twitter to congratulate the Lakers and the Seattle Storm — who won the WNBA Championship last Tuesday (Oct. 6).
“Congrats to the @Lakers and @Seattlestorm on their championship wins!” he tweeted. “Proud of all the NBA and WNBA teams and players who’ve been using their platforms to take a stand for racial justice and encourage civic participation this season.”
James has been a leading force off the court with his endeavors in education and social justice. He opened his I PROMISE School in his hometown of Akon, Ohio two years ago and the students have exceeded everyone’s expectations. Over 90% of the students reached their expected growth in math and reading.
James also launched the More Than a Vote initiative which encourages people to get registered to vote and also brings awareness to voter suppression. Recently, his initiative’s “We Got Next” campaign recruited over 10,000 poll workers to work in Black electoral districts ahead of the November election.
The NBA star has also been vocal about speaking out against police brutality and systemic racism. Following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, he joined other players and teams in the league to boycott their playoff games to bring awareness to the shooting and many others that have taken place.
“We see it over, and over, and over. If you watch the video, there was multiple moments where they could have tackled him,” James said, referring to the Blake shooting. “They could’ve grabbed him. They could have done that. Why does it always have to get to a point where we see the guns firing? And his family’s there; the kids are there. It’s in broad daylight.”
Check out Obama’s tweets below.