LeBron James Responds To Laura Ingraham: ‘I Mean Too Much To Society’ To Stay Quiet On Politics

Last week, Fox News host Laura Ingraham set off a firestorm after suggesting that Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James should “shut up and dribble,” — a riff off Ingraham’s famous line and one-time book title, “Shut Up and Sing.” And now James himself has weighed in.

During a post-game press conference following the weekend’s NBA All Star events, James suggested that he is “too important to society” to focus only on basketball.

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“We will definitely not shut up and dribble. I will definitely not do that. I mean too much to society, I mean too much to the youth, I mean too much to so many kids that feel like they don’t have a way out and they need someone to help lead them out of the situation they’re in.” pic.twitter.com/zFZdcy2RMv

— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) February 17, 2018

“We will definitely not shut up and dribble. I will definitely not do that,” James said. “I mean too much to society, I mean too much to the youth, I mean too much to so many kids that feel like they don’t have a way out and they need someone to help lead them out of the situation they’re in.”

Such a sense of self-importance might lead an athlete to consider the ramifications of a statement like the one James made last week, telling a group of media that President Donald Trump did not “give a f*** about America,” but James’ sense of responsibility, apparently, has its limits.

Since responding to James, Ingraham has faced a wave of abuse from political and sports commentators, accusing Ingraham of, among other things, abject racism. Ingraham maintains that her statements were not, in fact, racist, as she has a history of telling athletes, celebrities, entertainers, and musicians to stick to their day jobs.