[dropcap]When[/dropcap] CNN anchor Don Lemon last month asked LeBron James if he harbored any presidential aspirations, it was a question that exemplified two staggering current tales. The incredible transformation of a black, poor single-parent raised kid from Akron, Ohio, into one of the world’s most famous public figures, and the staggering alteration to America’s political climate. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″]
Even LeBron could barely have envisioned 15 years ago, ahead of his rookie NBA season, that he would attain the stratospheric heights of fame he currently occupies. So a question like Lemon’s still has the power to catch the world’s best basketball player off guard.
But 2018 will do 2018 things. And 2018 doesn’t give a damn as to what went before.
And in this instance, LeBron was thrust into the world of politics once again, a part of his life that started with his admiration of Barack Obama and continued via Trayvon Martin, the black teenager whose death sparked a national debate on race and gun laws. A basketball player having even an iota of White House aspirations is no longer outrageous, given the level of insanity currently playing out at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.