Marcellus Wiley has a lecture that I hope LeBron James takes to heart because the former NFL defensive end ripped the NBA star a new one for jumping the gun on the recent officer-involved shooting in Columbus, Ohio. The timing of this shooting couldn’t be worse, happening minutes before the Derek Chauvin verdict was read. Ma’Khia Bryant was only 16 years old when Officer Nicholas Reardon was forced to open fire after Bryant was about to stab another woman. There were seconds to act, the scene was chaos, and murder could have taken place before the eyes of the officer. The 911 call explicitly details a violent scene, with descriptions that Bryant was attacking and attempting to stab people. The video evidence clearly shows a justifiable use of force, but King James decided to tweet a picture of Officer Reardon writing “you’re next #accountability.”
Of course, he deleted it only after the evidence made him look like an idiot (via ESPN):
Body camera footage released by the Columbus Division of Police showed the officer, identified Wednesday as Reardon, getting out of his car at a house where police had been dispatched after someone had called 911 saying they were being physically threatened.
As the officer walks toward a group of people on the driveway, Bryant can be seen swinging a knife wildly at another girl or woman, who falls backward. The officer shouts several times to get down. Bryant then charges at another girl or woman, who is pinned against a car.
From a few feet away, with people on either side of him, the officer fires four shots, and Bryant slumps to the ground. The knife lies on the sidewalk next to her.
I had to look three times to confirm that LeBron James tweet is real.
— Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) April 21, 2021
We’re in dangerous territory, America.
LeBron James now-deleted tweet targets officer in Ohio police shooting: 'YOU'RE NEXT' https://t.co/0yltziWdXk
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 21, 2021
James later tweeted:
ANGER does any of us any good and that includes myself! Gathering all the facts and educating does though! My anger still is here for what happened that lil girl. My sympathy for her family and may justice prevail! ???????????
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 21, 2021
I’m so damn tired of seeing Black people killed by police. I took the tweet down because its being used to create more hate -This isn’t about one officer. it’s about the entire system and they always use our words to create more racism. I am so desperate for more ACCOUNTABILITY
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 21, 2021
And now Mr. Wiley enters the chat. He noted this is what happens when you want to be first and not right.
.@MarcellusWiley responds to LeBron's controversial tweet. pic.twitter.com/VbEov9rW1B
— Speak For Yourself (@SFY) April 23, 2021
“He should have passed in this moment,” Wiley said until all the evidence was hashed out because as you can see, he was made to look like a total idiot about this incident. Wait for all the facts to be revealed and then take your shot. It’s that simple.
“Emotions can’t trump logic…your agenda cannot go before your acumen, “Wiley added. He noted there is an immense responsibility James holds with his social media activity. He has a following—and this was outright abuse. Of course, he adds what he has done regarding charity outweighs the bad, but he also noted that Lebron has messed up a lot when politicking on these platforms.
“I don’t care how smart you are if you don’t stop and think, LeBron James—he failed in that moment,” said Wiley. He understands the need to react first, but Wiley notes who in the hell is reacting to this situation any differently now that the video has been released, adding the officer rushed into an impossible situation where he needed to take a life in order to save another.
Wiley then takes LeBron’s talking points to task saying he does not agree with the NBA star about us living in two separate Americas. They’re different for sure, but the division he feels is overexaggerated. LeBron said he’s scared to leave his house. Wiley wasn’t having any of it. He’s a black man and totally unafraid to walk around like any other American citizen—and he added he’s not LeBron James. He then rags on LeBron ragging about “the system.”
“The same system that’s so broken it allowed you to become a billionaire and never get arrested in it,” retorted Wiley. The former NFL player had a simple tweak to LeBron’s social media activity: how about telling your story, or stories of other people who have endured hardship and made it.
Wiley then dissects LeBron’s later tweets about black people being killed by the police.
Wiley added, instead of LeBron saying on Twitter, “I’m so damn tired of seeing Black people killed by police,” how about “I’m so damn time of seeing Black people killed.” Or better yet, I’m so damn tired of seeing people killed,” Wiley added.
For Wiley, it’s about the micro and the macro here. Around 250 black Americans died in officer-involved situations last year. Wiley added that 250 too many, but there are 7,500 homicides among black Americans every year as well.
Wiley makes a simple call to be responsible here, noting that this isn’t a one or the other with regards to activism, but going all-in on the 250 ignores the 7,500 cases that don’t see the light of day. Why? Well, it’s because of social media mishaps like this.
The only thing I disagreed with Wiley on deals with LeBron being the greatest basketball player of all time. Nope. That would still be Michael Jordan.
This isn’t the only time Wiley has spoken his mind and laid down some cold-hard facts. He tore into Black Lives Matter last summer, and it was also a doozy:
It’s amazing that a sports commentator is willing to say about BLM what many evangelical pastors are too scared to. pic.twitter.com/QiqPYF53ta
— Allie Beth Stuckey (@conservmillen) July 3, 2020
Editors' Note: The original headline noted that Wiley was a host for ESPN. He's on Fox Sports. Sorry for the error.
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