DALLAS — Lakers forward LeBron James, who had been a notable fan of the Dallas Cowboys, said he's done rooting for "America's Team."
In an Instagram Live on Thursday night with his business partner Maverick Carter, James said his fandom of the Cowboys was no more because of the team's stance about kneeling for the national anthem.
"Nah man, I had to sit put on the Cowboys, man. It just a lot of things that were going on when guys were kneeling," James said during the live stream. "...The organization was like 'if do that around here, you won't ever play for this franchise again.' I just didn't think that was appropriate."
James went on to say he likes a lot of players on the Cowboys, like CeeDee Lamb, Ezekiel Elliott and Micah Parsons.
In 2018, Jones said, "Our policy is you stand during the anthem, toe on the line," WFAA reported. Jones was even applauded by former President Donald Trump. Nearly two years later, Jones addressed the topic of the national anthem once again, where he tiptoed around his "toe-the-line" remarks.
“The keyword is a word called grace... grace,” Jones said in 2020. “That was then, two years ago. This is now... The ones who kneel, they do not feel like they’re dishonoring the flag. I’m going to have grace. And I’m going to have grace regarding the people that are sensitive about our flag. As we get together with our team, as we discuss with the team, somewhere in between there is how we’re going to handle it.”
James added that he was "all-in on the Browns."
James is a Cleveland-area native, so turning to his hometown franchise isn't too much of a shocker. He grew up in Akron, which is just 40 miles south of Cleveland and also played the majority of his NBA career for the Cavaliers.
Cleveland has been dealing with its own drama of late in wake of signing Deshaun Watson, who has had more than 20 civil lawsuits filed against him alleging inappropriate misconduct and sexual assault.
And it's not the first time James has shown support for the Browns, or Watson for that matter. When the deal to acquire Watson was announced, James tweeted out his approval of the move:
James also broke the news on the Instagram Live video that his show "The Shop" is going to be featured on the Nov. 17 Thursday Night Football broadcast between the Tennessee Titans and Green Bay Packers.
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