Posted by | Ray Cornelius
Is LeBron James the greatest living athlete? Well, according to GQ he is! The Cleveland Cavaliers mega-star is the latest celebrity to grace the magazine’s 60th anniversary edition and is part of their profile on the “World’s 50 Greatest Living Athletes.”
In the story, GQ puts a spotlight on LeBron’s undenial power moves on and off the court, his pop culture influence and his strong social media presence. He also opens up about his views on politics, #45 and racism in America.
“I have people around me, for the most part, that’ve been around me for a long time,” he told me. “So when you’ve been around people for a long time, there’s no sugarcoating, there’s no trying to put you higher than what you should be, there’s no yes-men or -women, there’s no gas. It’s just straight-up, raw, uncut, unfiltered knowledge, truth, passion.”
Check out more amazing photos of King James below + excerpts from the interview:
On would he ever run for President of the United States:
“I say no because of always having to be on someone else’s time. From the outside looking in, it seems like the president always has to be there—gotta be there. You really don’t have much ‘me time.’ I enjoy my ‘me time.’ The positive that I see from being the president… Well, not with the president we have right now, because there’s no positive with him, but the positive that I’ve seen is being able to inspire. Your word has command to it. If you’re speaking with a knowledgeable, caring, loving, passionate voice, then you can give the people of America and all over the world hope.”
On a celebrity’s responsibility…
“Nah, it’s my responsibility. I believe that I was put here for a higher cause. We have people, not only today but over the course of time, that have been in the higher positions that chose to do it and chose not to do it.”
On being famous and dealing with racism…
“It’s heavy when a situation occurs either with myself or with someone in a different city, i.e., Trayvon, Mike Brown. I have to go home and talk to my 13- and 10-year-old sons, even my 2-year-old daughter, about what it means to grow up being an African-American in America. Because no matter how great you become in life, no matter how wealthy you become, how people worship you, or what you do, if you are an African-American man or African-American woman, you will always be that.”
Photo Credits: GQ.com
