Swedish Soccer Star Dunks On Lebron James: ‘Political Statements Do Not Look Good, Do What You’re Good At’
In an interview Thursday, AC Milan soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic called out Lebron James and other athletes who promote their activism in what he called ‘politics.’
The Swedish soccer star spoke in an interview with UEFA on Discovery+ in Sweden, admired James for his talent but called it a ‘mistake’ when athletes step out of their lane to be involved socially and politically.
ESPN reported from Ibrahimovic, “[LeBron] is phenomenal at what he’s doing, but I don’t like when people have some kind of status, they go and do politics at the same time. Do what you’re good at. Do the category you do. I play football because I’m the best at playing football.”
“I don’t do politics. If I would be a political politician, I would do politics. That is the first mistake people do when they become famous and they become in a certain status. Stay out of it. Just do what you do best because it doesn’t look good.”
James’ public activism has grown over the years as he has become a vocal supporter for the Black Lives Matter movement and in May of 2020 James claimed black men are being ‘hunted everday’ in the US, in response to the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery.
Lebron James posted the comment to his Twitter at the time, “We’re literally hunted EVERYDAY/EVERYTIME we step foot outside the comfort of our homes! Can’t even go for a damn jog man! Like WTF man are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?!? No man fr ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!! I’m sorry Ahmaud(Rest In Paradise) and my prayers and blessings sent to the…..”
theScore posted some of footage from the interview on their twitter page.
‘I don’t like when people, when they have some kind of status, and they do politics at the same time as what they are doing.’
Zlatan Ibrahimovic says LeBron James and other high profile athletes should simply stick to sports. 👀
(🎥: @dplus_sportSE) pic.twitter.com/zDHzKbWnJt
— theScore (@theScore) February 26, 2021
