Spoiled by eight years of the Obama Administration, liberal sports media, coaches and athletes lashed out frequently and angrily at the new commander in chief in 2017. They loved it when basketball star LeBron James (see photo) called the president "u bum" in a tweet and when other athletes and coaches called him names. They made Nazi comparisons and invoked the KKK as well. In a memorable cop-out, one sports writer said Trump made it impossible for sports media not to detour to the White House lawn! The archive of liberal sports bias toward the president is deep and outrageous, and here are some of those lowlights for you now.
LeBron James' tweet to the president after he told the Golden State Warriors they were not welcome for a White House visit after winning the NBA championship. Later in a press conference James said it was not name calling:
Drew Magary, Gentlemen's Quarterly, writing on the suspension of ESPN Sport Center co-anchor and Trump critic Jemele Hill:
(ESPN Sports Center anchor Jemele) "Hill, of course, was already forced to apologize earlier this fall when she called President Trump a white supremacist on Twitter. Never mind that such a label is wholly appropriate for Trump given his history of discrimination in real estate, his support for blatantly oppressive policies, and his fervent defense of, uh, Nazis. ... And never mind that the 'outrage' over Hill’s tweets came from phony MAGA bots and disingenuous racists who perceive any justice for others as an injustice to them.
"This is ESPN going, 'Sorry the mouthy lady was mad at all the racism.' And in the process, they offered up Hill—whose only crime was to be too accurate in speaking her mind—as a sacrifice to those same jackasses, including the president himself:
"Trump knows he can make their lives utter hell with a single tweet, and gleefully sets the wolves on them if they dare to displease him. A decent boss—s---, a decent person—would support Hill and protect her from this horses---. ESPN didn’t. They shoved her into the wolf cage and locked the gate shut.
"Politicians and companies have consistently prioritized the miniscule short-term benefit of pleasing Trump against the long-term benefit of, you know, not dying in a nuclear holocaust. It’s insane."
Damon Young, The Root, reacting to ESPN's suspension of Jemele Hill for calling on Dallas Cowboys' advertisers to boycott the team:
"The president of the United States and his administration are in a de facto state of war against anyone who isn’t male, anyone who isn’t straight, anyone who isn’t white, anyone who isn’t Christian, anyone who isn’t wealthy, and anyone who doesn’t place the interests of straight and wealthy and Christian white men above the interests of everyone else. He has made this plain repeatedly and unambiguously with his words, his actions, his policies and his appointments, since his only political agenda is to retain the value of whiteness (white maleness, particularly) and reverse everything his black predecessor did.
Suspending Hill was a "craven and transparent attempt to appease a base that will never, ever, ever, ever, ever be satisfied unless all black athletes and media personalities either become mutes or Jason Whitlock. And along with being f------ wrong, this choice was remarkably shortsighted. They are, through their cowardice, making themselves a willing agent of an evil president. And if somehow, through the grace of God, we’re not all vaporized because of World War III, history will look back at the companies who chose ratings over being right and money over not being gutless bastards bending to the will of a triflin’ bum, and it will thumb its nose at these f---s."
Bryan Curtis, The Ringer: Trump made us do it:
"Trump’s presidency, with its daily explosions, has made it impossible to cover pro sports, even in the simplest box-score ways, without detouring onto the White House lawn."
Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks' quarterback, in a Facebook livestream broadcast from a barber shop shortly after Trump took office:
"But when you think about it’s only been two weeks right? Or even less. We’ve got to attack this issue here. So basically, I think that when you think about all the negativity that’s happened within a 10-day period, however many days it’s been, it’s already too much. It’s already crazy. It’s already affecting people’s hearts and souls and lives in such a negative way, in my opinion.
"Barack, come back! Come back, Barack!’’
Christine Brennan, USA Today, comparing the president's reaction to NFL protests with the violence in Charlottesville:
"Let it be noted that Trump mustered more anger Friday over Kaepernick’s personal decision to not stand for the anthem than he did for the neo-Nazis and white Supremacists who marched in Charlottesville’s deadly protest last month."
Shaun King, Black Lives Matter activist and New York Daily News writer:
"What we have right now, in the NFL, in America, in the White House — it's strange to say — is a theological problem, a fundamental misunderstanding of scripture. That is actually an understatement. What we are witnessing is a complete abuse of the fundamental purpose of the life and ministry of Jesus. Because if a single person in America believes Donald Trump is somehow the personification of Jesus that will be bringing Christianity back to the White House, American Christianity is in crisis.
"More and more, it seems that supporters of Trump are confusing Christianity with a peculiar version of patriotic, partisan white supremacy. That's actually not new, but drove the KKK. It drove slavery and colonialism. It drove plantations and lynchings. It drove Donald Trump into the White House."
Dave Schilling, Bleacher Report, on how the NBA can raise a fist defiance to Trump and his far-right America:
"Trump is not Obama; that much we know we’re dealing with. No matter your politics, we can all agree that his presidency is a retrenchment from his predecessor’s cheery grace and global positivity. And the rise of the NBA has overtly reflected Obama’s easy-to-believe dad-coolness.
"We are about to say goodbye to a leader who, as Carmelo Anthony told B/R Mag this month, "knows stats, he knows what you like to do, he studies the game."
Greg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs coach, ridiculing Trump over his response to the death of a U.S. soldier:
"This man in the Oval Office is a soulless coward who thinks that he can only become large by belittling others. This has of course been a common practice of his, but to do it in this manner—and to lie about how previous presidents responded to the deaths of soldiers—is as low as it gets. We have a pathological liar in the White House, unfit intellectually, emotionally, and psychologically to hold this office, and the whole world knows it, especially those around him every day. The people who work with this president should be ashamed, because they know better than anyone just how unfit he is, and yet they choose to do nothing about it. This is their shame most of all."
Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors' basketball player, responding to Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank calling President Trump an "asset" to the country:
"I agree with that description, if you remove the et from asset."
Ethan Sherwood Strauss, former Golden State Warriors reporter for ESPN (until the network's April layoffs), expresses fear of Trump in an interview with Isaac Chotiner of Slate:
"I find this administration terrifying. I think that the person running the country is, I mean, he is a reality TV game show host basically who has the ability to end life on the planet. That is a suboptimal situation."
LeBron James, tweet reported by Newsweek, on President Trump and hate in America:
"Hate has always existed in America. Yes we know that but Donald Trump just made it fashionable again!"
Trysta Krick, USA Today Sports Video, on President Trump:
"We've always thought of our athletes as role models. And now is the time, given that our commander in chief certainly isn't one, to be the voice for change and use their voice for influence for good. Not just sell sneakers and Gatorade."
Dave Zirin, The Nation, on a podcast:
"Donald Trump said that good people march with Nazi's and Donald Trump is undergoing an effort to end immigration ... but not from Europe or Canada ... It is about the whitening of America and punishes people who are not European."
