Plenty of NBA players have shown their support for LeBron James after President Donald Trump's Friday night criticism of the Los Angeles Lakers star. Now, the head of the NBA is chiming in.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver released a statement Saturday to USA TODAY Sports' Sam Amick highlighting James' accomplishments both on and off the court.
“LeBron is one of the all-time greatest NBA players and one of the most accomplished athletes. He runs a very successful media company. He's sent hundreds of students to college and just opened a school in Akron where at-risk students will receive free tuition, meals and transportation. I greatly admire his intelligence and business acumen and have enormous respect and appreciation for what he does in his community.”
Silver notably sticks up for LeBron's intelligence in the statement, as that's what was in Trump's crosshairs in his Friday night tweet. Bringing up James' business acumen also seems like a bit of a jab at Trump, given the president touts his own business acumen all the time.
With Silver expressing this strong statement of support, the NBA continues to rally around its star player. Expect to see many others around the league standing by James and criticizing Trump's criticism.