President Donald Trump called LeBron James “maybe a racist” on Friday, hours after the 41-year-old NBA star announced he was signing with the Philadelphia 76ers on a two-year, $8 million contract.
Trump was asked to weigh in on the greatest basketball player of all time. “Michael Jordan’s a guy that’s a friend of mine, I’ve played golf with him,” Trump said. “He’s a really good guy and I think LeBron is — maybe he’s a racist, but maybe he doesn’t like Trump, I don’t know — but I only like people that like me, so I would say Michael Jordan all the way.”
The remarks are the latest episode in a long-running feud between Trump and James. It dates to 2017, when James called Trump a “bum” on social media after Trump withdrew a White House invitation to Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry. “U bum, Steph Curry already said he ain’t going! So, therefore ain’t no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!” James wrote at the time.
In 2018, Trump announced he was pre-emptively banning both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors from visiting Washington following that year’s NBA Finals. James responded by saying that winning a championship was “way bigger than getting invited to the White House, especially with him in it.”
That same year, James told ESPN that Trump’s conduct in office made him “sick.” James said Trump did not understand how many children, regardless of race, looked to the president for guidance, leadership, and encouragement.
James’s opposition to Trump goes back to 2016, when he wrote an op-ed in the Akron Beacon Journal endorsing Hillary Clinton for president. Drawing on his own childhood in a single-parent home, James argued that Clinton was the only candidate who understood the struggles of underprivileged youth.
James Eyes Fifth Title in Philadelphia
The 76ers deal, first reported by ESPN, is a sharp step down in pay from the nearly $53 million James earned last season. He told the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this summer that he would not return. Reports had linked him to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Miami Heat, and the Golden State Warriors before Philadelphia landed him.
In a statement posted to X, James said he had seriously considered retiring when the season ended. “I thought I was done when the season ended,” he wrote, adding that after weeks of reflection he concluded he still loved the game and had “more to give.” He said the decision was not about money or family, but about his desire to compete and win another championship.
James described it as his “last decision” and said he believed he could help make the 76ers a championship team. “I am so excited to energize a new fan base and start this incredible journey one last time,” he wrote.
Philadelphia has not won an NBA title since 1983 and has not advanced past the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs since 2001. James joins a roster that includes Joel Embiid, Jaylen Brown, and Tyrese Maxey. According to The Athletic, Maxey and other key figures in Philadelphia had been relentlessly pursuing James, and the team’s trade for Brown from the Celtics helped tip the balance in their favor.
James, who turns 42 in December, is entering his 24th NBA season, a league record. He is the all-time leading scorer in NBA history and has won four championships, two with the Heat and one each with the Cavaliers and the Lakers.
