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LeBron James remained silent this week as the controversy swirled around him about an article in a Chinese state newspaper with his byline that appeared on Monday.
James’ Byline appeared in The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. The piece expressed their appreciation for China and the Chinese people. He had marked the first time that an NBA player had written an essay in the media controlled by the Chinese government and would come almost six years after the Los Angeles Lakers star tear the former general manager of the Houston Rockets, Daryl Morey, of course on social networks in support of Hong Kong’s protesters against the Chinese government.
As the NBA superstar received a ton of criticism and condemns for the words that seemed to be his, a new report on Tuesday offered a new turn but less answers about the piece.
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Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James striker (23) heated before the match against the Golden State Warriors in Chase Center on January 25, 2025. (Darren Yamashita/Imagn images)
Athletics, citing unidentified sources, reported that James “did not write the article that brought his name” in The People’s Daily. The report said that James did group interviews with journalists in two cities in China who visited as part of the “Forever King Tour” with Nike. The sources told him at the exit that James’s words in the newspaper were precise “but were not presented to anyone as an opinion essay or editorial.”
Three Chinese translators told athletics that the people’s daily referred to James as the “author” of the piece, but “also states that James was interviewed, and the piece was edited by a journalist” of the government -controlled newspaper.
Since James was attributed to write an article in the daily town, he has been unusually silent about what really happened and how his name reached the line of a communist newspaper.
Pak Gazette Digital asked a James representative if the future member of the Hall of Fame of the future basketball of certain believed that there was a confusion between him and those affiliated with the people of the day and if James knew that his name was going to be in the line of the newspaper. Pak Gazette Digital also asked if the piece was published without their knowledge.
Pak Gazette Digital did not receive an answer. It is not clear why James himself would not publicly deny that he wrote the essay, but depends on unidentified sources close to him to transmit the message.
Meanwhile, James’ byline’s critical voices that appear at the exit have been strong.
Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James striker (23) Dribla against the Golden State Warriors during the first quarter in the Chase Center on January 25, 2025. (Darren Yamashita/Imagn images)
The former NFL reporter Sidelle Michele Tafoya criticized James in an “No with Dakich” Outkick.
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“The first (thought) was: ‘ok, is it real?” This is the guy who defends China to the hills. Because? Because all your sneakers are made there. “
Tafoya said James, like most NBA players, has kept silent about the difficult situation of Uigures Muslims in China. The United States Department of Labor published a report in 2024 on Uigures Muslims who are forced to undergo “ideological indoctrination” and be forced to learn mandarin.
China has constantly rejected the statements of human rights violations when it came to the uigures.
“And ignore human rights (problems): the absolute atrocities that occur in China and the fact that China would like to destroy the majority of the western world and possess the world, or otherwise, LeBron loves that idea,” Tafoya added. “Maybe everything is inside. Maybe that’s what he also wants. For a guy who is very vocal about the history of slaves of the United States of America.
“It can certainly ignore the life of slaves that is still happening in China. I would never understand this, and I would love to sit and interview it about it because I have many pointed questions, but I don’t think I can take any questions about it.”
Fox Sports announcer, Tim Brando, also criticized James.
“It’s a sales sale,” Brando said in “Hot Mic” from Outkick. “I stopped worrying about the NBA long before the company with China came true, but that only improved my feelings about not worrying, or looking, and never transmitting an NBA game. I don’t want part of that.”
But James’s brilliant review of his time in China will certainly help build the frayed relations between the NBA and the communist nation since Morey talked about the protests in Hong Kong in October 2019.
“The enthusiasm and kindness of Chinese friends touch me deeply, and all I can do is give everything in each game to express my gratitude,” he wrote in the newspaper, through Reuters. “I hope to contribute to the development of Chinese basketball.”
The South China Morning Post also pointed out that James thanked his Chinese fans for his reception.
Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James striker (23) Dribla against Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry (30) during the first quarter at the Chase Center on January 25, 2025. (Darren Yamashita/Imagn images)
“Every time I come here, my family and I are welcome. I am deeply moved by the hospitality and kindness of our Chinese friends. All I can do is give everything in each party and express my gratitude to all,” he wrote.
