Donald Trump‘s decision to renew his feud with LeBron James traces back a decade.
The sports-obsessed president recently posted on social media James was a “TOTAL DISGRACE” for not standing at attention during the national anthem before James’ new team, the Philadelphia 76ers, opened the season against the New York Knicks.
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When asked about Trump’s rant, James took the high road: “Slow news day at the office,” he said.
But James has not always backed off.
Trump, whose primary resident is in Palm Beach, has a longstanding feud with James, who has publicly endorsed or campaigned for Trump’s political opponents since the 2016 presidential election.
The insults have ranged from James calling Trump a “bum” and saying he has enabled racists; to Trump insulting James’ intelligence and saying he might be a “racist.”
Trump’s issue with James, who won two of his four NBA championships while playing for the Miami Heat, is he has never just “shut up and dribble,” as Fox News host Laura Ingraham suggested nearly a decade ago when James criticized Trump during his first term as president.
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That has been the fuel for Trump’s personal attacks on James and any athlete who disagrees with his policies.
Even before Ingraham said it is “unwise to seek political advice from someone who gets paid a hundred-million dollars a year to bounce a ball,” and James responded by saying “we will definitely not shut up and dribble, I will definitely not do that,” James injected himself into the controversy between Trump and the Golden State Warriors.
When the Warriors decided they would not visit the White House after winning the 2016-17 NBA title, Stephen Curry said he hoped the team shunning Trump would inspire some change “for what we tolerate in this country and what we stand for, what is accepted and what we turn a blind eye toward.”
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After Trump said the Warriors were “uninvited,” James called Trump a “bum,” and added “going to the White House was a great honor until you showed up!”
In a 2018 CNN interview with Don Lemon, James said Trump used sports to divide people and he would “never sit across” from the president.
Trump responded, saying James was interviewed by “the dumbest man on television,” adding Lemon made James look smart, “which isn’t easy to do.”
That same year, on Martin Luther King Day, James accused Trump of giving racists “an opportunity to be out and outspoken without fear.”
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And James has suggested that Trump’s rhetoric enabled his supporters to riot at the U.S. Capitol in 2021.
At a White House press conference in July, Trump was asked who he believed was the greatest basketball player of all-time, James or Michael Jordan.
“I think LeBron is, maybe he’s a racist, but maybe he doesn’t like Trump,” Trump said. “I don’t know. I only like people that like me, so I would say Michael Jordan all the way.”
James’ activism likely has influenced a generation of young athletes who are attempting to drive social change. Many of those spoke out in 2020 when George Floyd died after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pinned Floyd face-down on the pavement by kneeling on his neck.
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College and professional athletes around the country peacefully protested. Most NBA players and coaches knelt during the national anthem and wore “Black Lives Matter” T-shirts during the 2020 season played in the bubble in Orlando because of COVID.
The protests drew criticism from Trump, who said the league was in “big trouble” and that the kneeling had been “horrible for basketball.”
Yet, that did not stop him from paying attention on opening night and once again trolling James.
“While listening to our National Anthem, LeBron James disrespects our Country! LeBron James should apologize to all of those Great American Warriors and Heroes who died for the American Flag,” Trump said.
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“I said right from the beginning that he’s no good, a TOTAL DISGRACE.”
James was making the motion of a golf swing during the Star-Spangled Banner.
The problem for Trump is the internet carries receipts. A clip resurfaced of Trump at a Super Bowl party in 2000 in which he was waiving his arms like a maestro, pointing at guests and moving a chair during the playing of the national anthem.
Trump has a reputation of changing his mind and having sudden reversals during his six years as president.
Check out his history with James.
Prior to this feud, and when James was playing with the Heat, Trump admired and supported the man who was one of the most popular athletes in the world with a global fanbase.
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Of course, he did so in true Trump fashion, making his praise first about him while tweeting about the 2012 NBA Finals.
“As one of Miami’s largest landowners, I am pulling for the Miami Heat in the NBA finals. Lebron’s time is now!” Trump wrote.
In later years, Trump congratulated James for being named ESPN’s male best athlete in 2013, calling him “a great guy,” and praised him as a “tough competitor who delivers under pressure.”
Ah, the good old days.
Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Donald Trump and LeBron James feud has roots going back a decade
