Dec 22, 2018 5 min read

Sometimes superstar athletes say the dumbest things.

Unfortunately, they have access to platforms that allow their stupidity to be heard by millions of people and a media that, instead of calling them out, cheer them on and ignore their ignorance.

The latest example is LeBron James, who has his own show on HBO called “The Shop.” In a discussion about the difference between how the NBA and NFL handle players protesting during the anthem, he said this about the NFL:

“In the NFL they got a bunch of old white men owning teams and they got the slave mentality. And it’s like, ‘This is my team. You do what I tell y’all to do or we get rid of y’all.’ The players are who make the ship go. We make it go. Every Sunday without Todd Gurley and without Odell Beckham Jr., without the players, those guys, there is no football. And it’s the same in the NBA.”

Where do you begin to point out the stupidity of a statement that sounds like it came from a 14-year-old?

How about, “Bunch of white men, they got that slave mentality?” It’s okay to suggest that a bunch of men, because they’re white, still have a slave mentality?

Leftover from when, 1862? All white men? Is this kind of generality OK in 2018?

How about, “You do what the I tell y’all to do or we get rid of y’all?” Isn’t that kind of like the relationship that every employee has with a boss? If the boss tells you to do something and you refuse to do it, don’t you expect him or her to get rid of you?

Then there’s, “Every Sunday without Todd Gurley and without Odell Beckham Jr., those guys, there is no football. Players are who make the ship go?”

Nobody at HBO thought that those comments made James sound like an idiot? James is on his way to becoming a billionaire because of the opportunity given to him by those old white men in the NBA. Why doesn’t he start his own league or go barnstorming with two teams made up of NBA all-stars? Do you think he grasps the difference between a slave master and someone who’s willing to pay him $35 million a year? Maybe LeBron could buy an NBA team and tell the players that they get to tell him what to do.

Do you think LeBron and other black athletes who like to make slavery comparisons when talking about guys who, at their own free will, and who are free to quit any time, are being paid millions of dollars?

Do you think they’re aware, when they make the assumption that they’re mistreated because they’re black and the owners are white, that players were treated much worse and much more like slaves by white owners when all the players were white?

And as Clay Travis of Outkick The Coverage pointed out, James has a billion-dollar deal to help Nike sell shoes that were made by people earning three dollars a day. That would seem a lot closer to slavery than what exists in the NFL and NBA.

There are few things in human history more horrific than slavery and, believe it or not, it’s still going on today. Somebody needs to tell LeBron to stop trivializing it with moronic comparisons.

• Le’Veon who?

Are you beginning to get the impression that being the Steelers number one running back is a pretty good gig? Is it possible that Bell is (was) a pretty good back but not worth anything close to what the Steelers almost paid him? There was talk that the Steelers would abandon the run and let Ben Roethlisberger throw the ball 50 times when James Conner went out with a high ankle sprain. You remember Connor, the third-round pick who picked up where Bell left off, put up Bell-like numbers and landed on the AFC Pro Bowl team.

What could they expect from a rookie who was drafted in the fifth round? How about Rookie of the Week? Jaylen Samuels gained 142 yards on 19 carries and caught two passes for 30 yards in the win over the Patriots. He said that he had never carried the ball that many times in a game – not even in high school.

Back in 2015 Bell was injured on Nov. 1. A 32-year old back named DeAngelo Williams got the start the next week against the Raiders and gained 170 yards on 27 carries. He also caught two passes for 55 yards. He had 134 yards on 26 carries against the Colts and 100 on 17 rushes against the Ravens. In that game, he also caught six passes for 53 yards.

Nobody missed Bell.

Maybe the Steelers’ offensive line is pretty good.

John Steigerwald writes a weekly column for the Observer-Reporter.