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LBJ. .Speaks out on Darfur. 建材
原文如下 来.自espn 注意日期 美容
eBro.n speaking out. on Darfur 婚庆
By Shelley Smith. 杀毒
ESPN
(Archive)
Up.dated: May 16, 2008 <性病>
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When LeBron James walke.d into our makeshift studio at the .Four Seasons Hotel in Washingt.on, D.C., we had no idea what the Cleveland Cavaliers' superstar forward wa.s going to .say. We had asked for the interview .for our "Outside the Lines" story on NBA athletes and poli.tical activis.m, specifically to s.ee if he'd address why he de.clined to sign then teammate Ira Newble's letter a year ago, condemning China for its role in the genocide in Darfur. 杀毒
At the t.ime Newble presented the letter, James said he didn't have enough information to speak on the issue, let al.one sign. anything. And he was ripped f.rom coast to. .coast, by pundits, columnists an.d social observers. They all characterized .James as a greedy, spoiled athlete who cared more about his business interests in China than. the slaughter of a reported 400,000 non-Arabs in Darfur. 域名
To. be sure., China's record on hum.an rights issues was, and remains, a sensitive topic, especially for James' employer, the NBA, which has had its eyes on China for more than 20 years. And then add the pressure of James' $90 million contract with Nike, which has its own desi.gns on. the vast. Chinese mark.e.t. James is so wildly popular there that he already has two China-only marketed shoes and his own museum in Shanghai,. fille.d with artifacts from his life, including a copy of his birth certificate. And right now, .China estimates it has 300 million baske.tba.ll fans -- the same amount as the entire population in .the United States. 电脑
That's a lot of feet. to. cover. 健康
And so when Newble approached James last spring, he paused, because. he said he didn't know enough about the situation. And now he was sitting down in front of our cameras after agreeing to address. the issue. So would he actually decide to speak out on something a.s. hor.rific as genocide, or. would he b.e like Mike (Jordan)? 域名
It was Michael Jordan who, many observers fee.l, paved the way for star athletes to be apolitical.. Back in 1990, he famously declined to back a Democratic African-American senate candidate in his home state of North Carolina by saying., "Republican.s b.uy sneakers, too.." 健康
During h.is car.eer, Jor.dan c.rafted a blueprint for commercial and endorsement success by dec.lining to take a stance on anything controversial or even slightly political and the younger gene.ration listened. Want to be like Mike? Then do like Mike. .
"Within this group of young ath.l.etes, this whole age group, there. is a huge vacuum of bein.g apolitical on global issues," said Kenneth Shro.ps.hire, dire.ctor of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative. at the University of Pennsylvania. "I am s.ure that many athletes today still look t.o Jordan and say, 'How did he do it?' and 'I can take those same steps.' It's not going to be helpful to whatever endorsement opportunities you might have to be politically active." 电脑
Shropshire and other.s point out that the images of athletes .as political activists we recall most -- Tommie Smith's and Joh.n Carlos' gloved .fists .on the .1968 medal stand, Muhammad Ali's refusal to enter the draft in 1967, and Arthur Ashe being arrested outside th.e South Afr.ican embassy in Washington, D.C. -- were all related to issues that direc.tly affected those athletes in a much more personal way. .
Outside .the Lines .
To read Ira Newble's letter to the Chinese gover.nment, cl.ick h.ere. Watch Shelley Smith's entire interview with LeBron James on. Sunday (9:30 a.m. ET, ESPN) o.n "Outside the Lines." 虚拟主机
