The LeBron James and Zlatan Ibrahimovic “feud” just got reignited when the AC Milan goal scorer shared his continued thoughts on athletes and politics in an interview with France Football. In February of 2021 the 39-year-old Swede had a very different opinion than the Lakers superstar, who has been very outspoken about Donald Trump’s presidency and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Back in February Ibrahimovic stated, “I don’t do politics. If I would be a political politician, I would do politics. That is the first mistake people do when they become famous, and they become in a certain status. Stay out of it. Just do what you do best because it doesn’t look good.”
LeBron James did not take those words lightly and responded in a press conference stating, “There’s no way I would ever just stick to sports, because I understand how powerful this platform and my voice is,”. Now things have heated up again as Ibrahimovic continued to make his point, will LeBron respond?
Zlatan Ibrahimovic defends comments about LeBron James
In the France Football interview Zlatan Ibrahimovic stated “I said that we are not politicians… Politics divides people. Football, in my world, unites people. Big difference. Because I have had the chance to meet and get to know people that I would never have known if I did not play football. I have met people from all four corners of the world. We unite people. Politicians divide. If I wanted to be a politician, I would do politics. We should only do what we’re good at. Sports and politics are two different categories. If you are intelligent, you understand.”
The former Los Angeles Galaxy forward went on to state: “Whether I take a position or not is not a question. It relates to what you do, and what message you want to send. Us, footballers, we produce love and joy. You cannot bring your politics into the world. I am not here to send a bad message to people. I am just here to unite, spread love and joy. This is the best means we have to do it. Football or sport. Because we are good for that. I am good for that. I am good at football.”
While LeBron James has been the polar opposite of Ibrahimovic in regard to using his fame to make social and political stances, James other “rival” Michael Jordan also is known to not entering the political arena as was made famous by his comment that “Republicans buy Nike’s too” in the 90’s. What the 36-year-old NBA all-time great will say after these comments remains to be seen.
