More than two years ago, Fox News television host Laura Ingraham asked LeBron James to “shut up and dribble” when the superstar was publicly critical of U.S. President Donald Trump.
On Thursday, in the wake of widespread protests about racial injustices following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, James posted a powerful video on Instagram to explain why he won’t fulfill Ingraham’s request.
The video is a series of sentences that cleverly transition in sync with the sound of a basketball’s bounce.
First, they are sports themed: “Shut up and dribble”; “Shut up and tackle.”
Then, they become more general: “Shut up and get paid”; “Shut up and just do your job.”
Next, they start telling the story of an encounter with police: “Shut up and do you live around here?”; “Shut up and you fit the description.”
That leads to sentences that loosely depict the injustice Floyd faced when Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin put all his weight on a prone Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes: “Shut up and get on the ground”; “Shut up and lay still.”
Finally, James closes with a statement and a question: “This is why we can’t just stick to sports. Do you understand now?”
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