With the 2016-17 NBA season just a month away, rumors are spreading that significant amounts of players will remain seated during the national anthem to protest the recent tensions between police and black communities.
Reigning champion and 12-time all-star LeBron James made it clear to reporters on Monday that he would not partake in these types of protests.
"Me standing for the national anthem is something I will do," James said at the annual media day. "That's who I am. That's what I believe in."
James did admit that he was worried about race relations in America, at times fearing for his 12-year-old son's life.
"For me, my personal feelings is that I got a 12-year-old son, a 9-year-old son and a 2-year-old daughter, and I look at my son being four years removed from driving his own car and being able to leave the house on his own, and it's a scary thought right now to think if my son gets pulled over," James said. "You tell your kids if you just apply [the lessons you teach them] and if you just listen to the police that they will be respectful and it will work itself out. And you see these videos that continue to come out, and it's a scary-ass situation that if my son calls me and says that he's been pulled over that I'm not that confident that things are going to go well and my son is going to return home. And my son just started the sixth grade."
He admitted that finding the perfect answers to the complex situation will not be easy. He said all lives matter, not just black or white.
"We just wanted the conversation to continue to keep going, and I don't have the answer," James said. "None of us have the answer. But the more times that we can talk about it and the more times that we can [converse] about it [the better]. Because I'm not up here saying that all police are bad, because they're not. I'm not up here saying all kids are great or all adults are great, because they're not. But at the same time, all lives do matter. It's not just black or white, it's not that. It's everyone."
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