Why LeBron James Ignores Genocide and Stands With Israel 为何 LeBron James 无视种族灭绝，选择与 Israel 站在一起 https://i.imgur.com/k8L6ZuR.jpeg 来源：https://bit.ly/4aAUr4n 作者：Dave Zirin The basketball great once said he wanted to be like Muhammad Ali. He can’t do t hat and shrug off Israeli war crimes. 这位篮球巨星曾说，他想成为像 Muhammad Ali 那样的全球偶像。但若对 Israel 的战争罪 行视而不见，他不可能走上那条道路。 Twenty-two years ago, I wrote this about a preternaturally mature 19-year-old ho ops phenom named LeBron James and his aspirations off the court: 二十二年前，我曾写到当时年仅 19 岁、却展现出超龄成熟的篮球天才 LeBron James，以 及他在球场之外的抱负： James has said he has two goals in his life. One is to be “a global icon like M uhammad Ali,” and the other is to be the richest athlete in the history of the world. And while these may be two great goals, they don’t exactly go great toge ther. That’s because people like Muhammad Ali didn’t become global icons becau se they were rich, but because they were willing to sacrifice everything—includ ing sponsorship deals—to stand up for what they believed in. James 说过，他人生有两个目标：一是成为「像 Muhammad Ali 那样的全球偶像」，另一个 是成为世界史上最富有的运动员。这两个目标听来都很宏大，却未必相容。因为 Muhammad Ali 之所以成为全球偶像，并不是因为财富，而是因为他愿意为信念牺牲一切——包括代言 与商业利益。 In the last two decades, we have seen how James’s desires have conflicted. Duri ng the early days of Black Lives Matter movement, he was outspoken in his suppor t for racial justice. In 2012, he posed with his Miami Heat teammates in hoodies to protest the murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, and after the police killi ng of Eric Garner in 2014, he wore a T-shirt that said “I can’t breathe” duri ng warm-ups alongside Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Kyrie Irving. 过去二十年，我们清楚看见 James 的理想如何彼此拉扯。在 Black Lives Matter 运动初 期，他曾积极为种族正义发声。2012 年，他与 Miami Heat 队友穿上连帽衫，抗议 17 岁 的 Trayvon Martin 遭到杀害；2014 年，警方杀害 Eric Garner 後，他与 Kyrie Irving （当时同为 Cleveland Cavaliers 队友）在热身时穿上印有「I can’t breathe」字样的 T 恤，以示抗议。 https://i.imgur.com/aPNmSES.jpeg Yet over the last several years, as his fortune has exploded into the 10-figure category, James’s silence has been noticeable. Neither ICE’s killings nor the Trump regime’s relentless racism has moved him to speak forcefully. One perfect encapsulation of this untenable balancing act was in 2022 when he filed a trade mark for the phrase “shut up and dribble.” When Fox News’s Laura Ingraham fir st bleated this at James in 2018, his supporters were enraged, and it became a r allying cry against the racism that Black athletes have long faced. Now one of J ames’s corporations says it will put it on items such as “downloadable virtual goods, namely, computer programs featuring footwear, clothing, headwear, eyewea r, bags, sports bags, backpacks, sports equipment, art, toys and accessories for use online and in online virtual worlds.” The phrase will go from protest cry to branding exercise. 然而，近几年随着他的财富突破十位数等级，他的沉默也变得格外醒目。无论是 ICE 的致 命执法行动，还是 Trump 政权持续不断的种族主义言行，都未能让他强烈表态。这种理想 与利益之间的紧绷关系，在 2022 年出现了一个极具象徵性的时刻——他为「shut up and dribble」申请商标。当 Laura Ingraham 於 2018 年在 Fox News 节目中对他说出这句话 时，他的支持者群情激愤，这句话也成为反抗黑人运动员长期遭受种族歧视的口号。如今， James 旗下公司却计画将这句话用於「可下载的虚拟商品」，包括鞋类、服饰、配件、运动 用品、艺术品与虚拟世界商品。抗议的口号，最终变成品牌经营的一部分。 This week, the effort to balance the spirit of Muhammad Ali with his life as a 4 1-year-old billionaire tipped away from Ali. Actually, it didn’t just tip. It c rashed to the ground. During NBA All-Star weekend, James was asked for his thoug hts on Israeli All-Star Deni Avdija of the Portland Trailblazers. He took the op portunity to speak about Israel more broadly, saying, “If I have fans over ther e, then I hope you’ve been following my career. I hope I inspire people over th ere to be better in life. Hopefully someday I can make it over there. I’ve hear d nothing but great things.” 本周，他在维持Muhammad Ali所代表的精神，以及作为41岁亿万富翁身分之间的平衡，开始 出现倾斜。 NBA 全明星周末期间，James 被问到效力於 Portland Trail Blazers 的 Deni Avdija 时，顺势谈到 Israel，并表示：「如果我在那里有球迷，希望你们一直关注我的 生涯。我希望能激励那里的人在人生中变得更好。希望有一天我能亲自去那里。我听到的全 是好话。」 James always speaks with great intentionality, and no one should think this was an off-the-cuff comment. It was a statement of support during the second year of a genocide in Gaza alongside the accelerating annexation of the West Bank. Isra el has launched a project of ethnic cleansing, and James wanted the world to kno w that he was unbothered by it. Not only that—he seemed to want to follow in th e footsteps of his good friend Draymond Green and take a propaganda trip to do p ublic relations for the Israeli state. James 向来发言谨慎，这不会是即兴之语。这番话，是在 Gaza 种族灭绝进入第二年、同时 West Bank 并吞加速的背景下所做出的表态。Israel 正推动一项种族清洗计画，而 James 的态度显示他对此毫不动摇。不仅如此，他似乎还有意追随好友 Draymond Green 的脚步 ，前往进行一场为 Israel 国家形象加分的公关之旅。 If James’s defenders say that he doesn’t know what’s been happening and we sh ouldn’t expect more from “just an athlete,” they are being as ignorant as Ing raham. James knows what’s been going on in Gaza, and it’s ludicrous to think t hat he’s heard “nothing but great things” about Israel. He certainly hasn’t heard great things from his old Cavaliers running buddy Kyrie Irving, who has no t been shy about showing his solidarity with the Palestinian people. He hasn’t heard great things from current and former NBA players like former teammate Dwig ht Howard or Tariq Abdul-Wahad or Etan Thomas and more who have spoken out again st genocide and for a free Palestine. Hell, during this past weekend’s All-Star Game, Irving wore a PRESS shirt in solidarity with the journalists in Gaza kill ed by the Israeli army and Spike Lee wore the colors of the Palestinian flag cou rtside. 若有人为 James 辩护，称他不了解 Gaza 的情势，或认为我们不该对「只是一名运动员」 有更高期待，那样的说法与 Ingraham 无异。James 不可能不知道 Gaza 发生了什麽事，更 难以相信他「只听到好话」。他不可能没听过 Kyrie Irving 对 Palestinian 人民的公开 声援；也不可能没听过前队友 Dwight Howard、Tariq Abdul-Wahad、Etan Thomas 等现役 与退役球员反对种族灭绝、支持自由的 Palestine。就在这次全明星赛期间，Irving 穿着 印有「PRESS」的上衣，声援在 Gaza 遭 Israel 军方杀害的记者；而 Spike Lee 也在场边 穿上 Palestinian 旗帜配色。 https://i.imgur.com/LhUJ74v.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/Gf0RNmg.jpeg James knows what’s going on. Instead of fulfilling his teenage goal of being a hero to the downtrodden, he has chosen to turn his back on war crimes, permittin g his fans to do the same. Perhaps he fears what a backlash will do to that othe r youthful dream of unfathomable wealth. Or maybe he just doesn’t care. James 知道世界正在发生什麽。然而，他没有实现少年时期立志成为弱势者代言人的愿望， 反而选择对战争罪行转身离去，也让他的球迷得以同样保持沉默。或许，他担心强烈表态会 危及另一个年少时的梦想——难以想像的钜额财富；又或者，他只是选择不在乎。 In contrast to James, Ali visited Palestinian refugee camps and went to Free Pal estine demonstrations in the 1970s and ’80s until he was physically unable to d o so. When asked why he would visit a refugee camp in Southern Lebanon, he said he had a responsibility to be there since “the United States is the stronghold of Zionism and imperialism.” Ali knew this would entail sacrifice, and he did i t anyway because he both consciously and instinctively sided with the oppressed. And that’s why you can go to any outdoor market on earth today and find a knoc koff Ali T-shirt for sale. That’s why he remains adored. 与 James 形成对比的是，Muhammad Ali 在 1970 与 1980 年代曾亲自造访 Palestinian 难民营，并参加 Free Palestine 示威活动，直到身体状况不允许为止。当被问及为何前往 Southern Lebanon 的难民营时，他回答说自己有责任到场，因为「the United States 是 Zionism 与 imperialism 的堡垒。」Ali 明知这样做意味着牺牲，仍然义无反顾，因为他 在理性与本能上都站在受压迫者的一边。正因如此，今日在世界各地的露天市集里，依然能 看到印有 Ali 图像的 T 恤贩售——他仍被深深敬爱。 James came to a fork in the road and spit on the path laid by Ali before taking the path most traveled. One wonders what 19-year-old LeBron would think about hi s current self’s making this choice: the choice to reject Ali’s legacy and bec ome just another billionaire stepping over Palestinian bodies to praise the Isra eli state. James 来到人生的岔路口，却背离了 Ali 所走的道路，选择了较为安稳、也最常见的那一 条。不禁令人想问：19 岁的 LeBron 若看到今日的自己，会作何感想？这是一个拒绝 Ali 精神、选择成为另一位在 Palestinian 屍体之上赞扬 Israel 国家的亿万富翁的决定。 - 阿里、还是亿万富翁？ 究竟怎样才能不只是个运动员呢？ --

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