LeBron James shot back at Zlatan Ibrahimovic after Swedish football legend slammed the Los Angeles Lakers superstar on Thursday for being too political.
In an interview with Discovery +, Ibrahimovic said that it is a mistake for James and other athletes to get involved in politics. “Just do what you do best, because it does not look good,” Ibrahimovic said.
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After the Lakers’ 102-93 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night, James reacted to Ibrahimovic, saying the football star did not feel the same way about social injustices when he proclaimed racism in his native Sweden three years ago.
“I will never keep quiet about things that are wrong,” James said Friday. “I preach about my people and I preach about equality, social injustice, racism, systematic oppression of voters, things that are going on in our community. I know what’s going on because I have a group of over 300 children at my school who go through the same thing, and they need a voice, and I am their voice. ‘
“I will use my platform to continue to shed light on everything that is going on in this country and around the world,” James added. “There’s no way I would ever stick to sports because I understand how powerful this platform and my voice are.”
ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC: LEBRON JAMES, OTHER SPORT FIGURES MUST ‘DO WHAT YOU ARE GOOD’, STAY OUT OF POLITICS
Ibrahimovic, one of the biggest names in football, plays in Serie A for AC Milan. He praised James for being ‘phenomenal about what he does’, but he believes he should just stick to what he does best.
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“Do what you are good at. Do the category in which you do. I play football because I am the best at playing football. I do not do politics. If I were a political politician, I would do politics,” Ibrahimovic said . “This is the first mistake people make when they become famous and they get into a certain status. Stay out there.”