Advertisement

LeBron James changes stance on playing without fans because of the coronavirus

Have you ever been in one of those situations at work where you knew your boss was about to ask you to do something you absolutely did not want to do? Of course you have.

You knew it was coming. And you swore to your co-workers that it wasn’t going to go down that way. Next thing you know,  you talk to your boss and then, boom, it’s probably happening just the way you said it wasn’t going to.

That’s the situation LeBron James is facing right now.

Last week, James told us he was absolutely not playing games without fans in the stands. If the coronavirus stopped people from coming to the games, he wasn’t going to play.

“If I show up to an arena and ain’t no fans in there? I ain’t playing.  So, they can do what they want to do.” 

Today? There’s a big change in tune.

“Obviously, I would be very disappointed not having the fans. Because that’s who I play for — I play for my family, I play for my fans. No one could actually come to the games if they decide to go to that point. But at the same time you’ve got to listen to the people that’s keeping a track on what’s going on. And if they feel it’s best for the safety of the players, safety of the franchise, safety of the league to mandate that then we all listen to it.” 

That’s an interesting pivot and, clearly, a more thought out response. Sounds exactly like a guy who got that “yo, chill out with all that” call from someone upstairs.

It seems like James didn’t have all the information in his first response. He said he didn’t know the league was having a conversation about potentially playing without fans behind closed doors. Now, apparently, he knows.

Hopefully, things don’t get to that point. But if they do, at least we know now we’ll still get to watch LeBron James play basketball…even if it can only be from the couch.

[jwplayer Jl3TJKyX-q2aasYxh]

More NBA