Woke Hack of the Day: LeBron James

LeBron James is the OutKick Woke Hack of the Day.

The reason we have selected LeBron relates to a must-read report that ESPN just released regarding Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai and the NBA’s uneasy relationship with China.

Several years ago, LeBron notably sided with the CCP over the oppressed people of Hong Kong when the quest for freedom threatened his bottom line.

For context, we take you back to 2019 when then-Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey tweeted, "Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong."

Though popular among American audiences, such calls for freedom don't sit well with the CCP. So their American lackey James, who makes millions from China through the NBA and endorsement deals with Chinese-affiliated companies like Nike, soon bent the knee to his Chinese overlords and told Morey to keep his freedom-loving mouth shut when it comes to China.

Here are LeBron's own words from October 2019:

Now, the recent ESPN report claims that LeBron's public interference in the controversy forced Tsai to take action as well on behalf of the CCP:

"In Shanghai, Tsai worried the government would cancel the games, the source close to him said. He asked his Alibaba co-founder, Jack Ma, to contact city officials to let the exhibitions continue. Ma was successful. Meanwhile, LeBron James, whose new movie 'Space Jam: A New Legacy,' was in production, raged to players about Morey during a meeting in China at a Ritz-Carlton, according to a source familiar with the meeting. (After returning to the U.S., James said Morey was 'misinformed' in his opinion about Hong Kong.)"

LeBron calling someone else "misinformed." That's rich.

It's unclear whether any of the players to whom LeBron raged over Morey's tweet pushed back or called LeBron a fraud. But we can only hope.

LeBron is one of the most unlikeable public figures in the news today. He has declared American police officers racist criminals while silencing those who want to speak out against Chinese human rights violations.

LeBron also isn't too bright. Though he shut up and dribbled at Chairman Xi's behest, China still didn't allow Space Jam 2 -- a film that recently won a Razzie award -- to be shown in its theaters. Without China, the film earned only around $70 million, while production costs reached $200 million.

Let this be a lesson: if you kowtow to communists, at least make it worth your while. 

Previous Woke Hacks of the day include Michelle Beadle and her cackle and all-time failureBomani Jones. Check back every day next week for a fresh slate of woke hacks.