Cavs' LeBron James downplays decision not to stay at Trump hotel
He and some other members of the team are staying near President-elect Donald Trump's hotel
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3 min read
LeBron James compared his decision not to stay at the Trump SoHo while the Cleveland Cavaliers are in New York to choosing to eat chicken instead of steak. Before Wednesday's shootaround at Madison Square Garden, James told reporters that he was "not trying to make a statement," via ESPN's Dave McMenamin.
"It's just my personal preference," James said as he talked to reporters from a baseline seat at Madison Square Garden with Cleveland preparing to play the New York Knicks later Wednesday night. "At the end of the day, I hope he's one of the best presidents ever for all of our sake -- my family, for all of us. But it's just my personal preference. It would be the same if I went to a restaurant and decided to eat chicken and not steak."
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James said it was the first time in his career that he chose to stay somewhere other than the primary team hotel on a road trip. A team source told ESPN.com that the alternative hotel -- which about half of the Cavs' roster was excused to stay at should they choose to -- was located close enough to the Trump SoHo that both factions of Cleveland's traveling party were able to meet and take the same bus over to the shootaround.
"I rode the bus like I do every [shootaround], like what I've done for 14 straight years," James said. "With my teammates, coaching staff and everybody else that travels with us."
It seems like James is trying not to directly oppose Donald Trump now that he's the president-elect. But while he might not want to make any public proclamations now, his mere decision not to stay at the hotel is a statement in itself, especially after James joined Hillary Clinton at her rally in Cleveland days before the election. Here's an excerpt about that and the days that followed from Lee Jenkins' recent Sports Illustrated feature that coincided with James being named SI's Sportsperson of the Year:
The time has come. James walks across the tiled floor into the auditorium, up five metal steps, to a blue carpeted stage. Applause engulfs him. "I want people to understand how I grew up in the inner city," James tells the crowd. "I was one of those kids and was around a community that was like, 'Our vote doesn't matter.' But it really does. It really, really does." He speaks for less than two minutes, but the campaign is thrilled. Not only did the most famous man in Ohio appear with the candidate, he had also posed backstage with the staff, as they stood on chairs around him. Only one person was missing from the shot. "Should we get HRC in here?" an aide wondered. "No, that's okay," another chirped, and Clinton shrugged good-naturedly. She hung off to the side, out of the picture for the first time in about six months. "I think this may have happened once before," an aide mentioned, "with Brad Pitt."
Two days later, James and his wife stayed up until 4 a.m., watching the state and the country choose Donald Trump. "When I was growing up, I didn't have my father, so you looked up to people in positions of power," James says. "It could be athletes or actors or leaders, like presidents. I think parents could use some of those people as role models. But when we elect a president who speaks in a disrespectful way a lot, I don't know that we can use him in our household." The next morning, James and Savannah ate breakfast, before the Cavaliers flew to D.C. for their championship ceremony with President Barack Obama. "I think we're going to have to do more," he told his wife. "I think we're going to have to step it up more."
James has only started discussing politics in public fairly recently, and he's made it clear where he stands. For this reason, his hotel preference should not be seen as much of a surprise. After all that he said leading up to the election, including what he wrote in his op-ed about why he was supporting Clinton, he should not have to explain this decision in great detail.
