LeBron James fires back at Drew Brees for calling kneeling protests disrespectful
Add LeBron James to the growing list of athletes who have spoken up in wake of Drew Brees’ comments about national anthem protests.
In a series of tweets Wednesday, the Los Angeles Lakers star reiterated that kneeling during the national anthem has “nothing to do” with disrespecting the flag or soldiers.
The backlash toward Brees arose from his conversation with Yahoo Finance about the possible reemergence of kneeling during the 2020 season.
Athletes across various sports, including Brees’ New Orleans Saints teammates Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara, took issue with the Super Bowl champion’s remarks and fired back via social media.
The topic of kneeling protests, which former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started in 2016 to highlight racial injustice, have resurfaced following the killing of George Floyd, who died after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
People around the world have taken to the streets to call for the end of police brutality and racism in the aftermath of Floyd’s death. Numerous athletes also used their platform to help amplify calls for justice.
Chauvin had his original charges elevated on Wednesday while the additional three officers who responded to the scene were charged, seemingly signaling a win for the protesters.
As LeBron indicated, Brees’ opinions didn’t necessarily surprise him. The 41-year-old quarterback hasn’t budged from his stance in the four years since Kaepernick first began kneeling. Brees took issue with the protests in 2016 and later doubled down in 2017 after President Donald Trump said players who knelt during the national anthem should be fired.
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 7:48 PM.
