A West Side Cincinnati bar’s owner has suspended broadcasts of NBA games in protest of LeBron James’ comments on a deadly police killing of a teen girl in Columbus.
Jay Linneman, the bar owner, has said that they will rebroadcast the game on the televisions at Linne’s Pub, which is in Delhi Township, only if James gets removed from the league.
The Ohio native and LA Laker forward posted on a social media platform, “You’re Next # Accountability” with an emoji of the hourglass. As per an ESPN post, the image depicted the gunman as a Columbus police officer.
James then deleted the tweet from the social media platform.
James stated in a recent article that anger is dangerous for all, including himself.
Linneman announced the NBA’s prohibition on tv broadcasts in a Facebook post, said he is sick of all athletes’ remarks.
He said that they just have to play the game and their perspective is meaningless. They are exploiting their positions of authority to further their personal interests, which is simply unacceptable.
Linneman said that if a high-ranking government officeholder, such as former President Donald Trump or Vice President Joe Biden, made such comments, there will be calls for “impeachment.”
In response to James’ statement, Trump tweeted that LeBron James should focus on basketball rather than preside over the NBA’s collapse, which just reported the lowest television ratings in the League’s long history. He further said that his racist opinions are insulting, demeaning, and divisive. According to Trump, James might be an outstanding basketball player, he is doing nothing to unite the nation.
James has faced backlash over a series of political positions over the last few years, most notably this week when he tweeted and then deleted a tweet that seemed to mock a police officer who shot and killed a 16-year-old girl in Ohio while she attempted to stab another male.
James attempted to defend the assertion later in the article by saying that he is tired of seeing white officers kill Black civilians. He said that he deleted the tweet because it was being used to provoke more hate. According to James, it was not about a particular officer; it is about the whole scheme since they continue to exploit our words to incite more discrimination. He further asserted that he is desperate to see increased “Accountability”.
