LeBron James, Steve Kerr reflect on MLK Day, criticize Donald Trump

Jordan Heck

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LeBron James, Steve Kerr reflect on MLK Day, criticize Donald Trump image

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is always special in the NBA because the league hosts multiple games on the holiday, but the signficance behind the day means a lot to the athletes as well. Before Monday's games started, stars around the league offered their take on what Dr. King meant to them.

Below are just some of the reactions and comments from players.

MORE: Full NBA schedule for games on MLK Day

LeBron James on MLK, Trump

On MLK: "I think it’s unbelievable what the NBA has done. To be able to have this many games, a lot of great games today, on such a great day. For a man who stood for more than himself. You always hear people saying, 'risking their life.' [King] actually gave up his life for the betterment of all of us to be able to live in a free world and for us to be able to have a voice, for us to go out and be free no matter your skin color, no matter who you are, no matter the height and size and the weight or whatever the case may be, wherever you are, he had a vision and he took a bullet for all of us. Literally. In the rawest form that you could say that. He literally took a bullet for us."

On President Donald Trump: "The guy in control has given people and racism, and negative racism, an opportunity to be out and outspoken without fear. And that’s the fearful thing for us because it’s with you, and it’s around every day, but he’s allowed people to come out and just feel confident about doing negative things. Like I said, we can’t allow that to stop us from continuing to be together and preach the right word of livin’ and lovin’ and laughin’ and things of that nature. Because would we want to live anywhere else? I don’t think so. We love this place."

Steve Kerr

On MLK: "I love Martin Luther King Day in terms of what it means to the NBA, what it means to the country. It's become a great day for the NBA because we celebrate basketball, but what we're really celebrating is equality and inclusion, which is what the NBA represents. We have players from all over the world, all different backgrounds. We've got players who are really socially active, trying to promote peace and understanding and these are all ideals that Dr. King felt so strongly about."

On Trump: "[King] would be less than inspired by the leadership in country, no doubt about that. ... There's a book to be written, the title is 'How we Got Here.' And there's a lot of chapters."

Gregg Popovich

On MLK: "We all know the situation now. And I think [King] would be a very, very sad man to see a lot of his efforts have been held up, and torn down."

Stan Van Gundy

Via ESPN's The Undefeated:

"Sadly, though, I think the 50th anniversary of [King's] death finds us going backwards on the issue of racial equality. The Voting Rights Act has been largely dismantled. Men of color, and even boys of color, face systemic inequality in the justice system, and we used the war on drugs to lock up a generation of black men. Affirmative action is being torn down. Police are killing men like a modern-day Bull Connor, and economic equality is headed in the wrong direction.

"Marches like Charlottesville are disturbing. It used to be that the KKK wore hoods, embarrassed to reveal their identity. Now people with racist beliefs proudly march in the open and are not even repudiated by our president. So yes, we honor Dr. King and all that he sacrificed and all that he accomplished. But if we truly want to honor him, we must get back out and fight like he did against the now-resurgent voices of racial injustice, discrimination and hate. I think 25 years ago Dr. King might have been happy to see some progress. My guess is today he would be in tears over where we are headed."

NBA players on MLK

Jordan Heck

Jordan Heck Photo

Jordan Heck is a Social Media Producer at Sporting News. Before working here, he was a Digital Content Producer at The Indianapolis Star. He graduated with a degree from Indiana University.