Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James took to Instagram on Thursday and sparked controversy after he posted a meme of three Spiderman pointing at each other with the words, COVID, flu, and cold. While many NBA players commented and agreed with The King, he's since deleted the post. Now, Bron is hearing it from Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who is very outspoken on this pandemic.
In a nutshell, Jabbar wasn't pleased with James' decision to post such a thing. Get ready, this a lot:
LeBron James is not only one of the greatest basketball players ever, he’s committed to being a leader in the African American community in the fight against inequality. But his Thursday Instagram meme showing three cartoon Spider-Men pointing at each other—one labeled “covid,” one labeled “flu,” one labeled “cold”—with his message: “Help me out folks” was a blow to his worthy legacy. The meme’s implication is that Lakers star doesn’t understand the difference among these three illnesses, even after all the information that’s been presented in the press. Well, since he asked, let me help him out by explaining the difference—and how knowing that difference might save lives, especially in the Black community.
To directly address LeBron’s confusion, no one thinks colds and the flu aren’t serious. In the 2019-2020 flu season, 400,000 people were hospitalized and 22,000 people died. In 2020, 385,428 people died of COVID-19, while so far in 2021, 423,558 have died in the U.S., for a total of 808,986 deaths. Experts agree that COVID-19 is at least 10 times more lethal than the flu. As for the common cold, death is extremely rare.
However, LeBron James, if you’re concerned about the flu, then help promote the flu vaccination. In the 2019-2020 flu season, only 51.8% in the U.S. were vaccinated, well below the 70% that is the target. Worse, the vaccination rate is 20% lower among Blacks than whites and as a result they have the highest hospitalization rate due to flu of any other group. This is due to vaccination hesitancy that your meme promotes.
One way to help the Black community to overcome their hesitancy and save lives is for prominent Black celebrities and influencers to continue to encourage everyone to get vaccinated and their boosters. Immunization, whether from vaccines or having had the disease, lessens over time and makes people vulnerable for reinfection.
While LeBron is a necessary and dynamic voice critical of police brutality against the Black community, he needs to be the same necessary and dynamic advocate with vaccines, which could save thousands of Black lives right now. The racism is just as real—and just as lethal—in both cases.
Oh boy, so basically, Jabbar has attacked LeBron James and made it known that he must be an advocate for the vaccine because it does come back to the black community, who are dying at an alarming rate from COVID-19. Since The King is such a vocal figure who African-Americans do listen to, Kareem wants to see him speak out more on why everyone must get vaccinated.
James, like many other NBA stars, is just frankly fed up with how many COVID-19 cases are still being found in the league. His frustration clearly boiled over here and that's why he posted the meme.
But, Abdul-Jabbar just wants LeBron James to be a difference-maker in this pandemic for the black people in America. His reasoning certainly does make sense.
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