Posted on 05/14/2014 1:12:38 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
MIAMI — Roger Mason Jr. hasn't played for the Miami Heat, or any NBA organization, since his February trade to Sacramento to clear roster space.
The veteran guard and Miami resident has remained in touch, and in tune, with team and league matters, however. He's frequently visiting the Heat locker room, when he hasn't been traveling the country in his role as vice president of the NBA players association, and he's remained close to several Heat players. That includes James Jones, another member of the players association's executive council, and LeBron James, who has been one of the most outspoken players during the Donald Sterling scandal.
First, James said there was no place for Donald Sterling in the league.
Then, Saturday, he made it clear that Shelly, Sterling's wife, doesn't belong in it, either.
And while James has consistently expressed strong support for the actions new commissioner Adam Silver has already taken, including a lifetime ban of Sterling, the four-time MVP hasn't been all that specific about what he'll do if the forced sale of the Clippers runs into snags.
During the open-forum segment on Jim Rome on Showtime—which airs Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET on the pay cable network—Mason, Jr. seemed to speak for him.
Rome asked what would happen if Sterling is still in the Clippers picture when next season starts.
"If it’s not handled by...the start of next season, I don’t see how we’re playing basketball," Mason said. "I was just in the locker room with LeBron...At the end of the day, you know we have leaders. We have player reps, we’ve got executive committee members...Leaders of the teams, they’re all saying the same thing, ‘If this man is still in place, we ain’t playing.’"
Rome continued.
"So, your guy LeBron, you think he would not play if Sterling were still in there when the [next] season started?"
Mason replied that he was "just in the locker room three or four days ago. LeBron and I talked about it. He ain’t playing if Sterling is still an owner."
What about Shelly Sterling?
"No Sterling deserves to be an owner of that franchise any longer," Mason said. “And I’ve gone down the line from LeBron to the other guys in the league that I’ve talked to and they all feel the same way. There’s no place for that family in the NBA."
James wasn't available for comment Tuesday, as the Heat did not practice after flying back from Brooklyn with a 3-1 advantage in their second-round series. But he will likely be questioned prior to Wednesday's Game 5, when he holds his usual media availability.
Would he go through with something that dramatic, if the league was trying to get the Sterlings out? Would he give up his salary to make that sort of statement?
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
There's no way to know for sure until it happens.
But James has shown an increasing interest in taking social and political stands over the past couple of years, from organizing a team photo in support of the late Trayvon Martin to shooting a commercial for Healthcare.gov.
Sunday, after practice at Baruch College in Manhattan, he shared more of his philosophy with reporters.
"If you feel like it's right for you to speak out on certain situations," James said. "If you don't feel like it's right or it's authentic to you, then don't do it. Don't fake it. If it's an issue that you feel like means a lot to you, and you feel like there should be some rightdoing or wrongdoing in the situation, then speak out on it. And if you don't feel that way, then don't do it. You shouldn't be forced to do it."
James said the same applies to giving back to communities.
"I do it because I love to see smiles on kids' faces, and I love to be an influences to kids," James said. "And that's why I give back to my community and all over the world. But if it's not authentic to you, then it's going to seem so fake, and it's not going to be real. It's whoever you are. It's the individual."
He cited Jim Brown, Muhammad Ali and Bill Russell as athletes who spoke out.
"Muhammad Ali went to jail for speaking out on an issue," James said. "Those issues are way bigger than what we're going through today. But at the end of the day, it's whoever you are as a person, it's not the generation."
James has grown into a person who wants to lead others.
If the NBA doesn't find a way to shrink the Sterlings' presence down to zero, we may learn how much he's willing to sacrifice for his ideals.
I want to see multi-million dollar players walk off of their job because of this.
I have never seen any whip driven negro enter the court, have his shackles removed so he can play basketball for 20 million a year.
How racist can the guy signing the checks be?
Would 50 mil a year make it ok?
How bout he take his team and fire every one, salt the earth and walk away?
I would give the liberal reparations crowd all the gas they need to burn the league to the ground.
For any of the NBA owners who vote in favor of having Sterling stripped of his legally purchased ownership stake; Would you be willing to have all of your future phone conversations recorded and analyzed by the NBA on a regular basis to see if there are any utterances that could be deemed 'offensive' to anyone? If so; would you be willing to be forcibly divested of your asset? Slippery slope indeed as pointed out by Mark Cuban.
Looks like these BB players are just like Libs.
Send out a spokesman who doesn’t play to ‘test the waters’. Funny how James forgets how he slid on the collusion he and his minions pulled....
Just like all the people that cheered and said good for you in terms of Curt Flood.
Same people who ‘complain’ that players change teams like normal people change jock straps.
There are probably a handful or so that may have saved a sou or two but I have a feeling that many of the NBA personalities put their ‘fortunes’ in the hands of ‘fathers’ and ‘uncles’ they never knew they had till the millions showed up - then came the posses and ‘relatives’.
Would kind of imagine that the NBA owners are starting to ‘sweat’ because DS hasn’t folded like a cheap suit.
Imaging he has enough dirt or at least can afford to dig up whatever against his ‘comrades’.
Much like the same reason these Pols don’t sell each other out.....
Would be nice as a ‘gesture’ say to have NO whites spend a plugged nickel on anything a black is involved in. Don’t buy his gear, recordings, go to shows and let them realize where the bread is really buttered.
‘Back in the day’ Base Commanders would either put a town off limits for a few days, and at times payday in $2.00 bills to let the ‘locals’ know what is REALLY keeping the town afloat.
Looks like these BB players are just like Libs.
Send out a spokesman who doesn’t play to ‘test the waters’. Funny how James forgets how he slid on the collusion he and his minions pulled....
Guess that Collins character was ‘busy’— he should be the spokesperson because ‘everyone’ has to cheer him and be nice.
Just like all the people that cheered and said good for you in terms of Curt Flood.
Same people who ‘complain’ that players change teams like normal people change jock straps.
There are probably a handful or so that may have saved a sou or two but I have a feeling that many of the NBA personalities put their ‘fortunes’ in the hands of ‘fathers’ and ‘uncles’ they never knew they had till the millions showed up - then came the posses and ‘relatives’.
Would kind of imagine that the NBA owners are starting to ‘sweat’ because DS hasn’t folded like a cheap suit.
Imaging he has enough dirt or at least can afford to dig up whatever against his ‘comrades’.
Much like the same reason these Pols don’t sell each other out.....
Would be nice as a ‘gesture’ say to have NO whites spend a plugged nickel on anything a black is involved in. Don’t buy his gear, recordings, go to shows and let them realize where the bread is really buttered.
‘Back in the day’ Base Commanders would either put a town off limits for a few days, and at times payday in $2.00 bills to let the ‘locals’ know what is REALLY keeping the town afloat.
Dats da one. Thank RF.
LeBron Raymone James (/ləˈbrɒn/; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Standing at 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) and weighing 250 lb (113 kg), he has started at the small forward and power forward positions. James has won two NBA championships, four NBA Most Valuable Player Awards, two NBA Finals MVP Awards, two Olympic gold medals, a NBA scoring title, and the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. He has also been selected to ten NBA All-Star teams, nine All-NBA teams, and five All-Defensive teams, and is the Cleveland Cavaliers' all-time leading scorer.
James played high school basketball at St. Vincent–St. Mary High School in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, where he was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar. After graduating, he was selected with the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Cavaliers. James led Cleveland to the franchise's first Finals appearance in 2007, losing to the San Antonio Spurs in a sweep. In 2010, he left the Cavaliers for the Heat in a highly publicized free agency period. In his first season in Miami, the Heat reached the Finals but lost to the Dallas Mavericks. James won his first championship in 2012 when Miami defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder. In 2013, he led the Heat on a 27-game winning streak, the second longest in league history. Miami also won their second consecutive title that year.
Knowledge is good.
I’m not stupid enough to waste my time on thugball. I’m old enough to remember when basketball was actually a game, and fun to watch. But when the apethugs took over, I was gone.
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