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LeBron James remained silent this week while the controversy swirled around him on an article in a Chinese newspaper managed by the state with his signature which appeared on Monday.
James’ signature appeared in the people’s Daily, the Official Journal of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. The play expressed its appreciation of China and the Chinese people. He would have marked the first time that a NBA player would have written a test in the media controlled by the Chinese government and has come almost six years after the star of Los Angeles Lakers tore the former managing director of Houston Rockets, Daryl Morey, for his social media position in support of Hong Kong demonstrators against the Chinese government.
While the NBA superstar received a ton of criticism and conviction for words that seemed to be its own, a new report offered a new turn on Tuesday but fewer answers on the room.
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Los Angeles Los Angeles LeBron James (23) Lakers striker warmed up before the match against the Golden State Warriors at the Chase Center on January 25, 2025. (Darren Yamashita / Imagn Images)
Athletics, citing anonymous sources, reported that James “had not written the article which bore his name” in the daily life of the people. The report indicates that James had done group interviews with journalists in two cities in China which he visited as part of the “Forever King” with Nike. The sources said to the point of sale that James’ words in the newspaper were correct “but they had not been submitted to anyone as an essay or editorial opinion”.
Three Chinese translators told The Athletic that the popular daily newspaper had called James as “the author” of the play but “also declared that James was interviewed – and that the play was published – by a journalist” from the government controlled.
Since James was recognized for writing an article in people’s daily lives, he was unusually silent about what really happened and how his name went on the signing of a communist newspaper.
PK Press Club Digital asked a representative of James REP if the future almost determined basketball thought that there was a confusion between him and those affiliated with the daily life of the people and if James knew that his name was going to be on the newspaper line. PK Press Club Digital also asked if the play had been published without its knowledge.
PK Press Club Digital has not heard. It is not clear why James himself would not deny publicly that he wrote the test, based rather on anonymous sources close to him to relay the message.
Meanwhile, the critical voices of the signing of James appearing in the point of sale were noisy.
The Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James striker (23) dribbles against the Golden State Warriors during the first quarter at the Chase Center on January 25, 2025. (Darren Yamashita / Imagn Images)
The former journalist of the NFL’s touch line, Michele Tafoya, criticized James in an appearance on “Do’t’t @ me with Dan Dakich d’Outkick”.
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“The first (thought) was:” OK, is it real? Does this AA? Is it legitimate? Is it so badly informed? “… It’s like an American fault,” said Tafoya. “It is the guy who defends China to the hills. Why? Because all his sneakers are made there.”
Tafoya stressed that James, like the majority of NBA players, were silent on the fate of Uighur Muslims in China. The American Labor Department published a report in 2024 on Uighur Muslims who are forced to undergo “ideological indoctrination” as well as to be forced to learn Mandarin.
China has systematically rejected the allegations of human rights violations with regard to Uighurs.
“And he ignores human rights (problems) – absolute atrocities in progress in China, and the fact that China wishes to destroy most of the Western world and own the world, if not LeBron loves this idea,” added Tafoya. “Maybe he’s everything.
“He is certainly able to forget the slave life that always happens in China. I would never understand that, and I would like to sit down and interview it on this subject because I have a lot of sharp questions, but I don’t think he will answer this.”
The Fox Tim Brando sports diffuser also criticized James.
“It’s a sale,” Brando told Outkick’s “hot micro”. “I stopped worrying about the NBA long before the company with China became a reality, but that only increases my feelings not to worry or watch, and never broadcast an NBA match. I don’t want to part of this.”
But James’ brilliant journal on her time in China will certainly help to restore the failed relations between the NBA and the Communist Nation from Morey spoke of demonstrations in Hong Kong in October 2019.
“The enthusiasm and kindness of Chinese friends touched me deeply, and all I can do is give my everything in every match to express my gratitude,” he wrote in the newspaper, via Reuters. “I hope I can contribute to the development of Chinese basketball.”
The South China Morning Post also noted that James had thanked his Chinese fans for their reception of him.
The Los Angeles striker, LeBron James (23), dribble against the Golden State Warriors goalkeeper Stephen Curry (30) in the first quarter at the Chase Center on January 25, 2025. (Darren Yamashita / Imagn Images)
“Whenever I come here, my family and I are warmly welcomed. I am deeply moved by the hospitality and conviviality of our Chinese friends. All I can do is give my match in every match and express my gratitude to everyone,” he wrote.
