Laura Ingraham tells LeBron James to ‘shut up and dribble’ and then claims it’s not “racial”

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Fox News’ Laura Ingraham apparently wasn’t too happy with LeBron James expressing his opinion. So much so, she thinks the NBA star should “shut up and dribble.”

Recently, James appeared on the Rolling With The Champion series on Uninterrupted along with Kevin Durant to talk with Cari Champion about the state of the United States under Donald Trump, and he didn’t hold anything back, according to Cavs Nation.

“The climate is hot,” James said of the state of affairs. “The number one job in America, the appointed person, is someone who doesn’t understand the people. And really don’t give a f*** about the people.”

James went on to lament the way that Trump had diminished the office of the presidency.

“When I was growing up, there was like three jobs that you looked [up to] for inspiration. It was the president of the United States, it was whoever was best in sports and it was the greatest musician,” he said. “You never thought you could be them, but you can grab inspiration.”

–READ: LeBron James set to produce ‘House Party’ remake–

‘Shut up and dribble’

Ingraham didn’t like James’ commentary, calling it “ignorant.”

“Look, there might be a cautionary lesson in LeBron for kids: this is what happens when you attempt to leave high school a year early to join the NBA,” Ingraham said, which was strange enough in itself.

But the commentary didn’t stop there.

“And it’s always unwise to seek political advice from someone who gets paid $100 million a year to bounce a ball,” she continued.

As if diminishing James’ achievements wasn’t enough, Ingraham then went on to address both James and Durant specifically:

“LeBron and Kevin, you’re great players, but no one voted for you. Millions elected Trump to be their coach. So keep the political commentary to yourself, or as someone once said, ‘shut up and dribble’.”

At this point, we shouldn’t even be surprised to hear this kind of dismissiveness and hypocrisy, but it is getting old.

Laura Ingraham says #LeBronJames should “shut up and dribble” and leave political comments to people who didn’t leave high school a year early. pic.twitter.com/vwInOpZJZq

— Thomas Bishop (@bishopk0s) February 16, 2018

After the social media backlash over Ingram’s remarks, Fox News contacted the Grio to share a statement from the controversial host. She is of course claiming there was no racial intent tied to her remarks:

In 2003, I wrote a New York Times bestseller called ‘Shut Up & Sing,’ in which I criticized celebrities like the Dixie Chicks & Barbra Streisand who were trashing then-President George W. Bush. I have used a variation of that title for more than 15 years to respond to performers who sound off on politics. I’ve told Robert DeNiro to ‘Shut Up & Act,’ Jimmy Kimmel to ‘Shut Up & Make Us Laugh,’ and just this week told the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich to ‘Shut up & Coach.’ If pro athletes and entertainers want to freelance as political pundits, then they should not be surprised when they’re called out for insulting politicians. There was no racial intent in my remarks – false, defamatory charges of racism are a transparent attempt to immunize entertainment and sports elites from scrutiny and criticism. Additionally, we stated on my show that these comments came from an ESPN podcast, which was not the case – the content was unaffiliated with ESPN.”