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James calls for action on Sterling but not boycott
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
NBA Players’ Association vice president Roger Mason backtracked Wednesday on his statement that Miami Heat forward LeBron James would support a boycott next season if Donald Sterling was not removed by then as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers.
James also stopped short of backing a boycott, saying before the Heat’s series-ending 96-94 victory over the Brooklyn Nets that he has confidence in NBA commissioner Adam Silver. But James emphasized that the league needs to continue to push for Sterling’s ouster.
Silver banned Sterling from all team activities and asked the league’s owners to vote for Sterling’s removal as Clippers owner because of his racial comments.
“The direction Adam is going, there shouldn’t be a need for (a boycott),” James said. “We trust those guys and we know that they’re going to take care of what needs to be done for our league, and we understand that it’s not going to be tomorrow. The system will not work tomorrow, but the direction they’re going – we’re all for it.”
Mason had said Tuesday during the Jim Rome Show on Showtime that James supported a boycott. But Mason turned to Twitter a day later to clarify his remarks.
“My bad if I was not clear,” Mason tweeted. “LBJ never said anything about boycotting. He’s a friend, and I would never want to imply something he didn’t say.”
Sterling and his wife, Shelly, vowed to fight to keep the team. For the NBA to strip them of their stake in the Clippers, it would require a 75 percent vote by the owners.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” James said. “We know what we want to happen, but the legal system can be a pain. The fact we have to continue to talk about this at a great time in our sport (stinks).”
