Liberal activist LeBron James is one of just two players on the Los Angeles Lakers who hasn't received a COVID-19 vaccination, his teammate Dennis Schröder (the other unvaccinated player) revealed on Monday.
"Nearly the whole team is vaccinated," Schröder told a media outlet from his native Germany. "Only LeBron and I are not, I think."
James's refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine reflects a dangerous anti-science ideology that experts have warned could put lives at risk. Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the most respected scientific experts in the country, has expressed "extreme confidence" in the FDA-approved vaccines and urged every American to "get vaccinated as quickly and as expeditiously as possible."
One of the wealthiest players in the NBA, a controversial sports league with deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party, James has repeatedly vowed to use his "powerful" platform to speak out on "everything that's going on around this country and around the world."
James hasn't always lived up to that promise. In 2019, for example, he blasted former Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey as "misinformed or not really educated" after Morey tweeted in support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. When it comes to believing in science and speaking out on the issue of public health, James has been conspicuously silent. In March, for example, he insisted that his decision to get vaccinated (or not) was a "private thing."
Whether intentional or not, Schröder's comments might accurately be described as "snitching," a practice that has been denounced by the likes of NBA forward Carmelo Anthony, a prominent Democratic donor. But that doesn't make James's refusal to get vaccinated any less dangerous or detrimental to the pro-science cause.