“There’s not a great deal of difference between LeBron James and Donald Trump when it comes to being an elite person and a privileged person.”
Jason Whitlock isn’t buying the authenticity of LeBron James’ transition into perhaps America’s most vocal athlete when it comes to social commentary, arguing that LeBron is simply one of the country’s elites attempting to pander to a society with practically nothing in common with LeBron, dealing with much wider struggles than one of the world’s richest athletes.
After saying that LeBron was ‘born on 3rd base’ given his one-in-a-billion genetics, Whitlock thinks it’s difficult to take LeBron James’ backstory seriously considering the days of his life as a pampered maestro have overwhelmingly outnumbered his days in hardship.
“Athletic privilege works a lot like wealth privilege -- affluenza I think they call it,” Whitlock said of the 32-year-old who was already on the cover of a Sports Illustrated issue titled ‘The Chosen One’ at age 17. “LeBron James is born into poverty, no father, and that is tough, but he was always gifted a level of athleticism and genetics that helped him grow to 6’8, 250 pounds.”
But even with the misfortunes LeBron has experienced, what about those hardships make them exclusive compared to the rest of us?
“Every human being that I’ve ever met has faced adversity,” Whitlock said. “Just because it’s never been explained to you doesn’t mean I’m trying to be controversial, doesn’t mean I’m trying to troll you, doesn’t mean I’m trying to diminish LeBron James, just means you haven’t thought of it.”