DENVER: LeBron James refrained from saying much about the Tamir Rice case because he said he didn’t know many of the details.
A grand jury declined Monday to bring charges against the officers who shot and killed the 12-year-old Rice, who was carrying a toy gun in a Cleveland park last year. The Cavaliers concluded a West Coast trip Tuesday while demonstrators marched in Cleveland’s streets protesting the decision.
“For me, I’ve always been a guy who’s took pride in knowledge of every situation that I’ve ever spoke on. And to be honest, I haven’t really been on top of this issue,” James said. “So it’s hard for me to comment. I understand that any lives that’s lost, what we want more than anything is prayer and the best for the family, for anyone. But for me to comment on the situation, I don’t have enough knowledge about it.”
James has been outspoken on some social issues in the past, wearing an “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirt before a game in New York last season in honor of Eric Garner, 43, who died as the result of a chokehold by New York police. Previously, James and his Miami Heat teammates posed for a team picture in hoodies after the death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin, who was shot to death by a neighborhood watch volunteer.
As James pointed out Tuesday, however, there are plenty of other issues on which he has remained silent, such as the recent San Bernardino killings and the Colorado movie theater shooting before that.
An activist group gained traction on social media Wednesday by creating #NoJusticeNoLeBron, asking James to boycott Cavs games in protest of the decision not to bring charges. The group compared it to Missouri football players who boycotted all football-related activities until university president Tim Wolfe resigned amid racial tensions — which he did days later.
James said he didn’t know much about the #NoJusticeNoLeBron movement, but it was at least mentioned to him by his staff in preparation for questions he could receive from the media.
“I have no knowledge, I’m not much of a social media guy,” James said. “I’m on it, for sure, but I’m not always looking what’s going on in it.”
James called for stricter gun laws last fall after the shooting death of a 5-month-old on Cleveland’s east side, but said Tuesday the gun epidemic is much larger than him.
“The most important thing that we all need to understand, this issue is bigger than LeBron,” he said. “This issue is bigger than me, it’s about everyone. And gun violence and tragedies and kids losing lives at a young age, some way, somehow we need to understand that that matters more than just an individual.”
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.