The president called him a “TOTAL DISGRACE” and demanded an apology. LeBron answered with ten words — then went back to the comeback win.
By Cliff Maddox — The Beat Writer, CelebnMusic247
LeBron James has heard worse from this particular critic, and he treated the latest round like a distraction from the actual story of his week. After President Donald Trump demanded an apology over James’s behavior during the national anthem, the Philadelphia 76ers star brushed the whole thing off in ten words, per Reality Tea: “Must have been a slow news day at the office.”
A golf swing starts a political fight
Trump ignited the dispute with an October 22 Truth Social post built around footage from Philadelphia’s October 20 matchup against the New York Knicks. In the clip, James pantomimed a golf swing and then acted out a basketball shot during the anthem. The president accused him of disrespecting the country, called him a “TOTAL DISGRACE,” and demanded he apologize to American service members who died defending the flag.
Asked about it by reporters on October 22, James offered no apology and no escalation. The 24-year NBA veteran simply redirected the conversation back to basketball — which, given the game he had just played, was the comfortable ground.
The game he wanted to talk about
James had plenty to point to. Philadelphia erased a 24-point halftime deficit to beat Cleveland 114-106, the biggest comeback win in franchise history during the play-by-play era, in the Sixers’ first home game of the season. Tyrese Maxey led the way with 32 points, while James put up 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. The win moved Philadelphia to 2-0.
The feud itself is an old one. James backed Hillary Clinton in 2016 and supported Trump’s Democratic rivals in later races; in 2018 he accused Trump of using sports to divide the country, and Trump fired back on Twitter at both James and CNN’s Don Lemon. More recently, Trump suggested James could be “racist” while arguing Michael Jordan outranked him as a player. Against that history, a ten-word shrug counts as restraint.
The 247 Take — Trump wanted a news cycle; James gave him a sentence and a stat line. Whatever anyone thinks of an anthem pantomime, the scoreboard part of this story is undisputed: 24 down at the half, biggest comeback in franchise history, 2-0. James has been feuding with this president for a decade, and he has clearly decided the cheapest response is the shortest one. Ten words, no apology, move on — that is a veteran who knows exactly how much oxygen a distraction deserves.
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Sources: Reality Tea
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