Clay Travis Calls LeBron James ‘an Idiot’ Over Goodyear Comment

When President Donald Trump called for a boycott of Goodyear Tires due to a reported ban of “MAGA” and politically-affiliated gear, LeBron James responded with strong words. He said that “we don’t bend, fold or break for nobody,” which sparked criticism from Clay Travis. The radio host called James an idiot.

“LeBron is an idiot when he talks about pretty much anything other than basketball,” Travis said. “LeBron defended Goodyear, which President Trump has ripped because Goodyear has inconsistent statements about which politics are allowed to be endorsed and which are not allowed to be endorsed. … LeBron said, ‘we don’t bend, fold or break for nobody.’ Dude, you bent the knee to China.”

Travis continued to say that James “shuts up and dribbles” for China, but he “rips American institutions.” The radio host used the NBA player’s previous comments about the First Amendment and Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey as an example. Morey had tweeted support of pro-democracy protests in China, prompting a backlash from the country’s government, as well as an apology from the NBA and the Houston Rockets. James later told reporters that Morey was “uneducated” on the situation.

“Yes, we do have freedom of speech,” James said after returning from a trip to China with the Lakers. “But at times, there are ramifications for the negative that can happen when you’re not thinking about others when you only think about yourself. I don’t want to get into a word or sentence feud with Daryl Morey, but I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand, and he spoke.

“So many people could have been harmed, not only financially but physically, emotionally, spiritually. So just be careful what we tweet and what we say and what we do. Even though yes, we do have freedom of speech, it can be a lot of negative that comes with it.”

Travis is not the only public figure to call out James for his comments about Goodyear. Fox and Friends co-host Will Cain also responded and alleged that the Los Angeles Lakers player bends for “the Chinese communist party.” Several NBA fans supported James’ comments about Goodyear, but many others disagreed. They instead expressed the opinion that James is willing to exchange money for human rights. Both Cain and Travis made similar comments in the wake of the Goodyear incident.