Basketball legend Lebron James’ anticipated film ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ has not hit theaters in China despite the athlete’s history of bowing to the Chinese Communist Party in attempts to stay in the good graces of the regime's ruling class.
Space Jam: A New Legacy was released in the United States on July 16 as the follow-up to the 1996 film Space Jam. The sequel features James accompanied by Looney Tunes characters (except Pepe Le Pew, that is) that appeared in the film’s prequel. The film reportedly cost around $200 million to make. Political and sports commentator Clay Travis shared via Twitter that the film is bound to lose millions of dollars if it doesn’t release to China's 1.3 billion citizens.
Despite LeBron James shutting up & dribbling for Chairman Xi, China still won’t allow Space Jam 2 to air, meaning the movie is likely to lose several hundred million dollars. Should be a massive story. LeBron bent the knee & China still spurned him. Yet media isn’t covering it.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) July 21, 2021
Space Jam 2 cost $200 million to make and market and will likely only make $60-70 million without China. Meaning LeBron’s movie will lose over a hundred million dollars, at least. China blocking the movie is a huge story. But no one is even discussing it in media. Strange.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) July 21, 2021
LeBron ripped the first amendment in the US, declined to speak up for basic human rights in China, & shut up and dribbled for Chairman Xi all to get Space Jam 2 on in China. And now LeBron won’t even talk about his movie being banned. Because he’s still afraid of upsetting China.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) July 21, 2021
Travis’ tweets refer back to October 2019, when former Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey shared a now-deleted tweet supporting the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, prompting James to share his thoughts on the matter, ripping on freedom of speech and the financial ramifications of Morey’s tweet.
A bunch of us have shared this, but #ICYMI, here's what @HoustonRockets GM Daryl Morey tweeted that offended his bosses and league officials pic.twitter.com/agjiLZjC2R
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 7, 2019
According to ESPN, in an interview before a preseason basketball game, James reportedly said "I don't want to get into a [verbal] feud with Daryl Morey, but I believe he wasn't educated on the situation at hand, and he spoke.” James continued, stating “so many people could have been harmed not only financially, physically, emotionally, spiritually. So just be careful what we tweet and say and we do, even though, yes, we do have freedom of speech, but there can be a lot of negative that comes with that, too.”
In the same interview, James noted that "social media is not always the proper way to go about things." The rhetoric didn’t stop there. James later tweeted, “I do not believe there was any consideration for the consequences and ramifications of the tweet.” Travis later called James out for his stance, tweeting he chose to “shut up and dribble for Chairman Xi,” to get his film in theaters in China.
LeBron James had a choice: he could support human rights in China or he could get “Space Jam 2” on in China. He picked his movie and shut up and dribbled for Chairman Xi. No one should take any political comment he makes seriously again. He follows the money every time.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) March 8, 2021
Perhaps James could take some of his own advice regarding social media use, as he took to Twitter months later to post what some considered inciting violence against an Ohio police officer who shot and killed 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant in the midst of an attempting stabbing attack. He shared a photo of the officer with the threatening caption: “YOU’RE NEXT,” with an hourglass. He later deleted the tweet, but not until half the internet had screenshotted it.
"YOU'RE NEXT"
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) April 21, 2021
This post by @KingJames could be read as an incitement to violence against a @ColumbusPolice officer who responded to the attempted stabbing attack by #MakhiaBryant. LeBron James has deleted the tweet. Here is an archive: https://t.co/6Dn4LnS22M #BLM pic.twitter.com/epH7EQFjuf
James’ views on China shouldn’t come as a shock, as he’s been affiliated with Nike since 2003, whose CEO John Donahoe reportedly stated last month “Nike is a brand that is of China and for China.” James signed a “lifetime” contract with Nike reportedly worth well over $1 billion in 2015.
While James is hardly the first athlete to utilize their platform for brand deals, perhaps it’d be best if politics remained “out of bounds.”