Racist Slur Spray Painted on Home of LeBron James
A Los Angeles home owned by Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James was vandalized with a racial slur in the lead-up to the 2017 NBA Finals, according to TMZ and later confirmed by ESPN.
The Brentwood home, which was purchased by James in 2015, reportedly had the N-word spray painted on the front gate. James does not live in the home and he was not present at the time of the incident, which is being treated as a potential hate crime by the Los Angeles Police Department. James is currently in Oakland, California getting prepared for Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.
According to SB Nation, multiple LAPD units turned up to the home on Wednesday morning after they received a call at 6:44 in the morning. They are currently looking through security footage from neighboring homes in the hopes of finding the suspect or suspects. The graffiti on the gate has since been covered up by the property managers. ESPN, SB Nation and HuffPost have all confirmed the incident with authorities.
James spoke about racism earlier this month when he was asked about his thoughts on what Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones experienced at Fenway Park in Boston.
“Racism, we know, exists,” James said at the time. “You try not to put yourself in a position, for me as a father, I try to give my kids the blueprint on how life is going to be. But at the end of the day, I can only tell them so much and then they have to go out and live it themselves. For me, I just try to be respectful, for one, be respectful to others. And I feel like if you do that consistently, then I believe the karma will come back to you.”
The incident comes a day after James spoke about how he’d like to own a team in the NBA when his playing days are over.