LeBron James has hit back at Zlatan Ibrahimovic after the AC Milan striker claimed athletes have no place meddling in politics.

The LA Lakers star has been at the forefront of the fight for racial equality in America and was a regular critic of now former US President Donald Trump, but Ibrahomvic controversially claimed the NBA legend should focus on matters on the court earlier this week.

‘Do what you’re good at. Do the category that you do,’ he told UEFA and Discovery+ in Sweden, reffering to James’ political activism.

‘I play football because I’m the best at playing football, I’m no politician. If I’d been a politician, I would be doing politics.

‘This is the first mistake famous people do when they become famous and come into a certain status. For me it is better to avoid certain topics and do what you’re best at doing, because otherwise it doesn’t look good.’

Speaking after the Lakers’ victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, however, James took issue with Ibrahimovic’s personal dig and vowed to continue fighting against racial oppression both in America and around the world.

‘At the end of the day, I will never shut up about things that are wrong,’ he said in response to Ibrahimovic’s comments. ‘I preach about my people and I preach about equality, social justice, racism, voter suppression, things that go on in our community because I was a part of my community at one point and saw the things that were going on, and I know what’s still going on because I have a group of 300-plus kids at my school that are going through the same thing and they need a voice.

‘I’m their voice and I use my platform to continue to shed light on everything that might be going on, not only in my community but in this country and around the world.

‘There’s no way I would ever just stick to sports, because I understand this platform and how powerful my voice is. He can just ask Renee Montgomery if I would have shut up and just dribbled, just seeing that beautiful Black woman today be part of a group – she’s part of the ownership group with the Atlanta Dream.

‘It’s funny he’d say that because I believe in 2018 he was the same guy who said, when he was back in Sweden, talking about the same things, because his last name wasn’t a certain last name, that he felt like it was racism going on when he was out on the pitch.

‘Right? He did say that, right? I thought he said that. I speak from a very educated mind. I’m kinda the wrong guy to actually go at, because I do my homework.’

Follow Metro Sport across our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Source: Read Full Article