CLEVELAND _ LeBron James just happened to be watching the Boston Red Sox game against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night when he saw the Fenway Park crowd give Adam Jones a standing ovation.
Because he stays away from social media during the NBA playoffs, the Cavaliers star said he wasn't entirely sure what was going on. He said he had the audio off, so didn't hear what was being said on television.
The Red Sox crowd, including some of the team's players, gave outfielder Jones the reception when he came to the plate for his first at-bat because Jones had been the target of racial taunts the night before. He said after the game he heard "the N-word a handful of times." He also had a bag of peanuts thrown in his direction that hit a police officer.
Thirty-four fans were ejected, about twice the normal amount, although none for uttering racial slurs.
Since the incident, James has picked up some of what happened. So when he was asked after the Cavs' 125-103 victory over the Toronto Raptors Wednesday night in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at Quicken Loans Arena to comment on what happened to Jones, James answered thoughtfully.
"It's a delicate situation. Racism we know exists," James said. "You try not to put yourself in a position ... for me as a father I try to just give my kids the blueprint on how life is going to be, but at the end of the day I can only tell them so much and then they have to go out and live it [themselves].
"For me, just try to be respectful for one, respectful to others and I feel if you do that consistently I believe the karma will come back to you."
James said he heard a couple athletes say they expect racist remarks when they play in Boston, where the Cavs will soon be playing if they and the Boston Celtics can close our their respective conference semifinal series. The Celtics lead the Washington Wizards 2-0.
But during his 14-year career, the four-time NBA MVP said he's never heard such taunts.
"I've played in Boston a lot. I just try to have tunnel vision when I play. I can't recall ever hearing something that was racism towards me," James said.
But James knew about the message posted on Twitter by Mookie Betts of the Red Sox. "Fact: I'm Black too. Literally stand up for [at sign]SimplyAJ10 tonight and say no to racism," Betts tweeted. "We as [at sign]RedSox and [at sign]MLB fans are better than this."
That made an impression on James.
"I think it was great that other guys spoke up for him, not even on his own team, guys from the Red Sox spoke up for Adam Jones saying, 'Hey, fans, we need you guys to, this is a situation where you need to have a standing ovation. Please do that because it's not great for sports, it's not great for society,'?" James said.
"Martin Luther King, all he talked about was trying to unite all of us. No matter the color, the no matter the race, no matter the shape or size. Racism is going to be a part of time forever, I believe. I think, for us, the people that have the opportunity to have voice and opportunity to have some play on youth that's coming up, we have to lead them the best way we can.
"We have to live with the results. It's a real, real longer conversation, but if we can keep the conversation going, I think it helps."
