LeBron James didn't just become the most famous athlete on Earth — he became one of its most careful, and occasionally most explosive, political voices. In the most contentious episode of our LeBron series, Dan, Amin and Izzy trace the moments that turned a basketball player into a lightning rod:
The Trayvon Martin hoodie photo — and Dan's own take on it at the time, warts and all. The killing of Tamir Rice, and the "I Can't Breathe" shirt that, in the moment, didn't include his name. The ESPYs speech. The White House years, plural. The Bubble. And the legacy that's still being argued over, for better or worse.
With firsthand memories from Jemele Hill and Cari Champion, plus a LeBron teammate history conveniently forgot.
Homework for this episode:
• "Reaction to tragic killing shows growth of LeBron" (The Miami Herald, 2012)
• "Kevin Durant x LeBron James x Cari Champion" (Uninterrupted, 2018)
• "Trump Attacked Black Athletes — and Paid for It in the End" (The Atlantic, 2020)
• "LeBron James Doesn’t Talk About Politics Anymore" (New York, 2022)
Encouraged homework for next week's season finale:
• "There's Always This Year" by Hanif Abdurraqib (2025)
More from "The Step Back":
• Episode 1: The Chosen One (feat. Sonny Vaccaro)
• Episode 2: The Decision (feat. Jim Gray)
• Episode 3: I'm Coming Home (feat. Iman Shumpert)
• Episode 4: LeBron Inc. (feat. Pablo Torre)
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