LeBron to L.A. County Sheriff: “I Have Never Condoned Violence”

LeBron James vehemently denied inciting violence against law enforcement officers while addressing reporters following the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss to the Denver Nuggets in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals Tuesday night.

“I’ve never in my 35 years ever condoned violence,” James said in a response to a question which specifically referenced last week’s challenge from L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva to James that he “double” the reward to help find the lone gunman who shot two deputies Sept. 12 while they were sitting in their patrol car in Compton. Both survived.

James refused to directly address Villanueva’s challenge.

“I have zero comment on the sheriff,” James said bluntly.

“I never have (condoned violence),” the basketball legend explained. “But I also know what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong. And I grew up in the inner city, in a Black community. What we call the hood, the ghetto, however you want to picture it. And I’ve seen a lot of counts, firsthand, of a lot of Black people, being, I guess, racially profiled because of our color. And I’ve seen it throughout my whole life.”

James had already expressed his condolences to the two wounded deputies over the weekend.

“We don’t want anyone to be injured, we don’t want anyone to be hurt,” James told reporters on Sunday following Game 2 of the series. “My condolences goes out to the officers that were shot in L.A. And we want justice for that, as well as we want justice for Breonna Taylor and so on.”

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