Soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic thinks LeBron James and other stars shouldn’t speak about politics.
The four-time NBA champion is arguably the most outspoken athlete on the planet when it comes to politics, and Zlatan thinks he’s making a big mistake by getting involved. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
The legendary soccer player said the following during an interview with UEFA for Discovery+, according to ESPN:
[LeBron] is phenomenal at what he’s doing, but I don’t like when people have some kind of status, they go and do politics at the same time. Do what you’re good at. Do the category you do. I play football because I’m the best at playing football. I don’t do politics. If I would be a political politician, I would do politics. That is the first mistake people do when they become famous and they become in a certain status. Stay out of it. Just do what you do best because it doesn’t look good.
Zlatan believes LeBron should stay out of politics. pic.twitter.com/MKkZbMlzCW
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 26, 2021
Following Zlatan’s comments, LeBron James wasn’t too impressed and fired back Friday night. He responded in part with the following, according to ESPN:
I would never shut up about things that are wrong. I preach about my people, and I preach about equality. Social injustice. Racism. Systematic voter suppression. Things that go on in our community…So, there’s no way I would ever just stick to sports, because I understand how this platform and how powerful my voice is…I speak from a very educated mind, so I’m kind of the wrong guy to actually go at because I do my homework
You can listen to his full response below.
LeBron responded after Zlatan Ibrahimovic criticized him for his activism.
“I’m kind of the wrong guy to actually go at because I do my homework.” pic.twitter.com/VyKgBrYuiz
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 27, 2021
This won’t surprise anyone, but I agree 100% with Zlatan’s position. There’s nothing wrong with having political opinions.
This is America. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but being able to score 30 points in an NBA game doesn’t make you an authority on politics.
It doesn’t make you an expert at all.
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Furthermore, the vast majority of fans don’t want to hear players turn everything into a political debate. Don’t believe me?
Listen to NBA commissioner Adam Silver say the exact same thing this past summer from the bubble when players were kneeling.
Even the man running the NBA knows it’s a problem.
If you want to talk about politics in your private time, knock yourself out, but fans aren’t buying tickets to be lectured by millionaire athletes.