National Basketball Association

How King James Led The Way

Published Aug. 28, 2020 2:08 p.m. ET

In recent months, LeBron James has been as outspoken as ever in addressing social injustice and police brutality in America.

And this past week, after the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Aug. 23, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar has continued to let his voice be heard.

However, things changed on Wednesday, when the Milwaukee Bucks decided to boycott Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first round series against the Orlando Magic.

With that, all eyes turned to the biggest star in the biggest market. The 3-time NBA champion and 4-time NBA MVP. The face of the league.

The one and only King James.

After the Bucks' boycott, which turned into the postponement of all NBA playoff games for the rest of the week, NBA players needed to land on a strategy.

The main topic of conversation, according to reports, revolved around if the players wanted to finish out the 2019-20 season in Orlando, or leave the bubble and focus on the social unrest taking place across the nation.

Somewhat shockingly, the player with the most to gain by continuing the season, one of the favorites to win this year's NBA title and further cement his legacy, felt that it was time to leave Orlando.

Upon LeBron's exit from the meeting, his team and his chief rivals followed suit.

NBA players did not come to a consensus decision on Wednesday night, and decided to reconvene on Thursday morning. But on Friday, Yahoo! Sports' Chris Haynes gave an in-depth look at exactly how Wednesday's meeting went down.

And as could have been assumed, James' opinion was at the center of the discussions.

LeBron James was one of the many players miffed with the Bucks’ handling of the situation as well, sources said. To him and so many others, it put them in a no-win situation.

His frustration with Hill and the Bucks was because the players didn’t have a plan of action that would warrant players returning to play, sources said. James’ mindset, sources said, was if they’re refusing to play, then what’s the end game and what demands must be met to continue?

According to Haynes, James' frustrations initially led him to capitulate, saying that he would follow the lead of the majority when it came to the decision on whether to play or not.

However, James' former Miami Heat teammate Udonis Haslem requested a stronger stance from LeBron.

With emotions all over the place, Haslem pressed James and asked the star what he planned to do, reminding him that he’s the face of the league and it goes as he goes, sources said.

James then said, “We’re out,” and walked out with almost all of his teammates following behind, sources said ... The Clippers walked out as well, joining the Lakers as the only two of the 13 teams still in the bubble to vote against completing the rest of the playoffs.

After Wednesday night, players agreed to meet again on Thursday morning. And even though LeBron's Lakers, along with the Clippers, showed up 45 minutes late to the meeting, both teams had decided to continue the playoffs.

LeBron wasn't done letting his voice be heard, however, and later that day, on a Zoom call between players and owners, James took the owners to task, according to reports.

On the call, James was stern in calling on owners to do more in aiding the Black community and to play more of a role in using their resources to combat systemic racism, sources said.

James had already told players he was in, but depending on how the meeting went with owners, he would have reversed course if things went sideways, sources said.

After the meeting, James felt comfortable with returning to the court, sources said. Owners promised that they would get to work on real action items that would benefit the Black community, sources said.

On Friday, Shannon Sharpe reacted to Haynes' story on the players' discussion amongst each other and with the owners, and touched on LeBron's approach to putting pressure on the owners.

James will once again take the court in the next few days, as reports are that the NBA will resume the postseason this weekend, although game times are not set in stone as of Friday morning.

Now that LeBron has spoken, and both owners and players have listened, the King apparently hopes to enact real change.

We'll see just how powerful his voice is in the coming weeks.