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Lakers star LeBron James has changed his longtime NFL fandom of the Cowboys after the team’s stance on players kneeling during the national anthem.
James revealed his fandom change on Thursday night in an Instagram Live stream with friend and longtime business partner Maverick Carter.
“Nah man I had to sit out on the Cowboys man,” James said.
“It’s just a lot of things that were going on when guys were kneeling. …The organization was like ‘If you do that around here, you won’t ever play for this franchise again.’ I just didn’t think that was appropriate.”
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James’s new NFL allegiance is with his hometown Browns. Cleveland had its own organizational criticism recently after the team’s decision to trade for, and pay handsomely, quarterback Deshaun Watson, who has been accused by more than two dozen women of sexual misconduct.
Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones made it clear where the organization stood on national anthem protests during training camp in 2018. He said at the time, “Our policy is you stand during the anthem, toe on the line.”
Former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem in 2016 in protest of racial injustice and police brutality. He filed a grievance against the league in ’17, accusing the owners of colluding to blackball him due to his kneeling. Kaepernick eventually reached a confidential settlement with the NFL. Throughout the next couple of seasons, players throughout the league knelt during the national anthem for similar reasons, which was received with a mix of support and backlash alike from sports fans around the world.
Jones’s stance on the matter has now apparently driven away a notable supporter in James.
