OT: LeBron as a Public Figure

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Re: OT: LeBron as a Public Figure 

Post#41 » by ItsThatEasy » Thu Feb 16, 2017 7:29 pm

evitcanI wrote:
shawn_hemp wrote: Everyone is protesting these days, does anyone know why? Because a few people got shot by police?
Because people with certain ethnic backgrounds feel that they're viewed with disdain by a large segment of the population, and that their lives and interests are undervalued. When innocent or not actively threatening black people are shot by police, and the police officers face no serious repercussions, they perceive it as confirmation that their lives are undervalued. They believe that if the victims were white that those kinds of incidents would spark public outrage and lead to reforms.
How about this, every time a police officer is shot and killed lets congregate in large groups for extended periods of time
We make a huge deal out of it when police officers are killed. All available resources are put into catching the perpetrators, and once caught, they face the most serious possible repercussions.


I don't care for (insert career here) getting too political, stick to your day job.
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Re: OT: LeBron as a Public Figure 

Post#42 » by mkwest » Thu Feb 16, 2017 7:46 pm

Manute Lol wrote:It did for Ali, who went to prison for his beliefs.


For future reference, Ali never went to prison. He was sentenced to 5 years, but he successfully appealed his conviction and never served time.
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Re: OT: LeBron as a Public Figure 

Post#43 » by Hoopz Afrik » Thu Feb 16, 2017 7:53 pm

shawn_hemp wrote:
ItsThatEasy wrote:
Mylie10 wrote:I know its just me, but I don't care for players or entertainers getting to political. Of course it depends on the issue, but for the most part, I'd rather they just stick to the games.


Funny how people said the same about Ali during his career and now he's viewed as a national hero.

Bringing visibility to social injustice has no downside.

Wrong or right you start a dialogue and people are forced to talk about things they otherwise wouldn't.


That's the gist of my stance in a way.

Ali actually had real social injustices to complain about.

I'm in the group that would proclaim that the current generation of athletes, do not.

But whatever keeps their name in the press right?


As opposed to the fake social injustices today right? :roll:
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Re: OT: LeBron as a Public Figure 

Post#44 » by otwok » Thu Feb 16, 2017 9:20 pm

shawn_hemp wrote:
I'm trying to say that he uses all of his good deeds as a way to give credence to his stances on perceived "injustices" suffered by a certain demographic in the US when all I am trying to say is that a lot of that is overblown. Everyone is protesting these days, does anyone know why? Because a few people got shot by police? How about this, every time a police officer is shot and killed lets congregate in large groups for extended periods of time because nobody has to get to work anyway and scream and shout until it gets too cold out for us to want to continue

I'm not saying anything more on this, it has nothing to do with basketball.


I know you are not going to say anymore on this but your post is off base. The social injustice and protests are for a lot more than just a few people being shot by police. It is about a lot more than that.
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Re: OT: LeBron as a Public Figure 

Post#45 » by OsuCavsfan103 » Thu Feb 16, 2017 9:33 pm

A man comes from nothing to one of the most spectacular athletes to play a sport. He donates millions upon millions and never forgets where he came from. He keeps out of trouble, and inspires generations of kids....

Yet some arsehats in this thread still try and find a way to bash him in his non-basketball related life. Unreal...
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Re: OT: LeBron as a Public Figure 

Post#46 » by SH0KASE » Thu Feb 16, 2017 9:38 pm

What does "He produced xxx" mean?

Like he gave money to other people to do everything?
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Re: OT: LeBron as a Public Figure 

Post#47 » by bmurph128 » Thu Feb 16, 2017 9:41 pm

bushybrah_ wrote:
YogurtProducer wrote:
bushybrah_ wrote:As much as I hated him for leaving the Heat, I can't deny he's one of the GOATs and truly appreciate everything he's done for the game. Doesn't hurt to say he played for and helped bring my city 2 titles.


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How can you hate him for leaving when he literally did that to get to you in the first place.

Because I'm a sports fan and I want what's best for my team? Lol


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Re: OT: LeBron as a Public Figure 

Post#48 » by ItsThatEasy » Thu Feb 16, 2017 9:45 pm

SH0KASE wrote:What does "He produced xxx" mean?

Like he gave money to other people to do everything?


No sir, if it was that easy every NBA player would be an executive producer if they could

LeBron has a direct say in the creative output of these shows, whether it's coming up with the premise, advising on casting or just choosing which network the show will land on.

He's not just the face of this thing, he controls all of his assets.
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Re: OT: LeBron as a Public Figure 

Post#49 » by ItsThatEasy » Thu Feb 16, 2017 9:50 pm

Regarding Survivor's Remorse:

What does it mean to have LeBron as your Executive Producer?

Mike O'Malley, Creator: His job is a professional basketball player — I don’t want to make it seem like he’s in the writers’ room with us. He certainly has creative influence on what is authentic, what is accurate, what is real, what a professional athlete goes through, some of the challenges that he’s gone through.
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Re: OT: LeBron as a Public Figure 

Post#50 » by sharmaraps » Thu Feb 16, 2017 9:56 pm

shawn_hemp wrote:I'm not a fan of LeBron off the court to be honest.

He tries to act like some racial social justice warrior who defied the odds and now empowers young impoverished youth to do the same when in reality he won the genetic lottery and was driving an Escalade in high school because he can control a round object that much better than everyone else.

Charities are really just a way to not have to pay as much taxes. Sure, they help people, but they help the donors as well.

Once you have money it's easier to make money because you can take more risks.

And LeBron had a shoe deal before he ever played an NBA game


Dude this guys worked his backside off to get to where he is today. No one and I mean NO ONE can reach the level he is at today without the focus and hard work he has put in. I'm not even referring to his ball game. His off court stuff is tremendous.

Even if LeBron has touched one soul with his charities he's done life's most important job of helping others. He's done that throughout his whole career not just with charities but with her friends and loved ones. To bash that by saying that taxes crap (that almost everyone who talks bad about people with money says) is ridiculous. He's giving and people still tryna bash him?

Yeah he had a shoe deal. He could have still been mediocre after that and not worked as hard as he has throughout his career to get to where he is. He's greatness and you fail to recognize it on and off the court.

Honestly by the end of this post I can't believe I'm replying to this.

And if controlling a round object is so easy, and so is making money, helping your friends build their lives, helping your wife, being a social figure who kids look up too, speaking out for injustice, is easy stuff YOU should def try it. Let me know how far you get.
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Re: OT: LeBron as a Public Figure 

Post#51 » by E-Balla » Thu Feb 16, 2017 10:07 pm

ItsThatEasy wrote:LeBron is looking more and more like some unholy combination of Michael Jordan level greatness and Magic Johnson level off the court success.

The guy is undeniably one of the best players to ever touch a basketball but his moves off the court are really unprecedented.

He took his childhood friends and made them businessmen (no posse comments please).

They had some bumps and bruises along the way (The Decision was their idea) but as of now the things LeBron is doing are truly amazing:

Lifetime Nike Deal worth $1 Billion
Received $30 Million from investing in the Beats/Apple deal.
Producer of Survivors Remorse, now in its 4th season on Starz
Producer of Cleveland Hustles, picked up CNBC
Producing an HBO documentary about Muhammad Ali
Currently developing a film with New Line Cinema about a guy pretending to be an NBA draft pick
Owner of Uninterrupted, a company he signs other athletes to, even his rival Draymond Green
Minority shareholder of Liverpool (Only active pro athlete to do so)
Actively speaks on social issues and does not shy away from controversial issues
Has been a model citizen off the court throughout his entire career

Somehow someway I'm more excited about this guys Post-NBA career than his current quest to catch Jordan on the court.

20 years from now LeBron's finals record will be in the back of people's minds, he's truly a mogul and I just think it's cool to watch it happen.

Couldn't disagree more here but outside of that you're 100% right and I didn't even know half of this was happening.
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Re: OT: LeBron as a Public Figure 

Post#52 » by ItsThatEasy » Thu Feb 16, 2017 10:17 pm

E-Balla wrote:
ItsThatEasy wrote:LeBron is looking more and more like some unholy combination of Michael Jordan level greatness and Magic Johnson level off the court success.

The guy is undeniably one of the best players to ever touch a basketball but his moves off the court are really unprecedented.

He took his childhood friends and made them businessmen (no posse comments please).

They had some bumps and bruises along the way (The Decision was their idea) but as of now the things LeBron is doing are truly amazing:

Lifetime Nike Deal worth $1 Billion
Received $30 Million from investing in the Beats/Apple deal.
Producer of Survivors Remorse, now in its 4th season on Starz
Producer of Cleveland Hustles, picked up CNBC
Producing an HBO documentary about Muhammad Ali
Currently developing a film with New Line Cinema about a guy pretending to be an NBA draft pick
Owner of Uninterrupted, a company he signs other athletes to, even his rival Draymond Green
Minority shareholder of Liverpool (Only active pro athlete to do so)
Actively speaks on social issues and does not shy away from controversial issues
Has been a model citizen off the court throughout his entire career

Somehow someway I'm more excited about this guys Post-NBA career than his current quest to catch Jordan on the court.

20 years from now LeBron's finals record will be in the back of people's minds, he's truly a mogul and I just think it's cool to watch it happen.

Couldn't disagree more here but outside of that you're 100% right and I didn't even know half of this was happening.


Not sure what you could possibly disagree with about that statement.

Right or wrong he publicly speaks out on social issues and openly endorses politicians. Something athletes rarely do.
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Re: OT: LeBron as a Public Figure 

Post#53 » by JAY DASH » Thu Feb 16, 2017 11:33 pm

shawn_hemp wrote:My opinion on this isn't a popular one, I get that.

It's hard to argue against helping kids, and that's not what I'm trying to say at all.

I'm trying to say that he uses all of his good deeds as a way to give credence to his stances on perceived "injustices" suffered by a certain demographic in the US when all I am trying to say is that a lot of that is overblown. Everyone is protesting these days, does anyone know why? Because a few people got shot by police? How about this, every time a police officer is shot and killed lets congregate in large groups for extended periods of time because nobody has to get to work anyway and scream and shout until it gets too cold out for us to want to continue

I'm not saying anything more on this, it has nothing to do with basketball.


That last sentence was the best thing you said in this thread. Great decision.


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Re: OT: LeBron as a Public Figure 

Post#54 » by Biggie Smalls » Fri Feb 17, 2017 1:08 am

Wow...a guy thats been acting like a child in the media just two weeks ago, complaining about his teammates coming off a championship run is character wise being compared to Ali now....im done with realgm for today.
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Re: OT: LeBron as a Public Figure 

Post#55 » by Warriorfan » Fri Feb 17, 2017 1:49 am

Lebron James haa been a celebrity since high school. He leveraged his great athletic ability to gain access to business figures like Warren Buffet who lauds James business acumen.

He holds ownership in the things he endorses overall an excellent athlete to emulate.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/how-lebron-spends-his-money-2016-6?client=ms-android-att-us
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Re: OT: LeBron as a Public Figure 

Post#56 » by Black Jack » Fri Feb 17, 2017 1:54 am

shawn_hemp wrote:
ItsThatEasy wrote:
Mylie10 wrote:I know its just me, but I don't care for players or entertainers getting to political. Of course it depends on the issue, but for the most part, I'd rather they just stick to the games.


Funny how people said the same about Ali during his career and now he's viewed as a national hero.

Bringing visibility to social injustice has no downside.

Wrong or right you start a dialogue and people are forced to talk about things they otherwise wouldn't.


That's the gist of my stance in a way.

Ali actually had real social injustices to complain about.

I'm in the group that would proclaim that the current generation of athletes, do not.

But whatever keeps their name in the press right?


Not going to argue but it's hilarious as a black american to hear this kind of thing. Also note that a guy like Ali wasn't complaining about his personal treatment. If he had agreed to "go" to Vietnam he wouldn't have seen a minute of combat. His stance was a moral one i.e. "the Viet cong never called me _____ " was an explcit anti-colonial stance. And he paid for it, bigtime, knowingly. He gave up his personal income at the peak of his career for it.

Today's athletes taking stances against things like Israeli apartheid or police brutality absolutely are in line with what Ali did.
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Re: OT: LeBron as a Public Figure 

Post#57 » by ItsThatEasy » Fri Feb 17, 2017 1:56 am

Biggie Smalls wrote:Wow...a guy thats been acting like a child in the media just two weeks ago, complaining about his teammates coming off a championship run is character wise being compared to Ali now....im done with realgm for today.


Lol if you think LeBron acted like a child a few weeks yet you admire Ali's character you just showed how little you know about Ali.

Dude said some of the worst and childish things you could possibly say to the media or about an opponent, and it still doesn't take away from his courage as a man and leader for social justice.
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Re: OT: LeBron as a Public Figure 

Post#58 » by LivingLegend » Fri Feb 17, 2017 1:58 am

double post
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Re: OT: LeBron as a Public Figure 

Post#59 » by shawn_hemp » Fri Feb 17, 2017 2:01 am

You can do a thousand things right for some people, and they will only focus on the one thing you didn't do.

Seriously, what do black people have to complain about in the United States in 2017?
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Re: OT: LeBron as a Public Figure 

Post#60 » by LivingLegend » Fri Feb 17, 2017 2:02 am

infinite11285 wrote:
ItsThatEasy wrote:
shawn_hemp wrote:I'm not a fan of LeBron off the court to be honest.

He tries to act like some racial social justice warrior who defied the odds and now empowers young impoverished youth to do the same when in reality he won the genetic lottery and was driving an Escalade in high school because he can control a round object that much better than everyone else.

Charities are really just a way to not have to pay as much taxes. Sure, they help people, but they help the donors as well.


So what about the impoverished youth who actually do feel empowered by him?

They should not feel empowered anymore?


Taking that further, to this day hasn't he put forth +$42 million towards paying for full rides for college for Ohio youths?


Yes, LeBron has spent 41 million dollars to pay for kids in his foundation to full rides through Akron University. If they stick to his plan, get the grades him and his foundation have set, he pays for their college tuition.

He has currently payed for 1,100 kids to go to college.

Incredible.

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