Kareem Abdul-Jabbar came after LeBron James in his latest SubStack column on Monday.
The NBA legend and hall of famer criticized the Los Angeles Lakers superstar for posting a coronavirus-related meme last week that showed three Spider-Man superheroes pointing at each other. One was labeled COVID, the other flu and the third one labeled cold.
“Help me out folks,” James wrote in the caption.
Abdul-Jabbar also suggested that by sharing that meem, James was doing a disservice to the Black community, who he says have been disproportionally affected by the pandemic.
“The meme’s implication is that LeBron doesn’t understand the difference among these three illnesses, even after all the information that’s been presented in the press. Well, since he asked, let me help him out by explaining the difference—and how knowing that difference might save lives, especially in the Black community,” the former NBA center wrote in his column.
“As is evident by some of the comments that cheer LeBron’s post, he’s given support to those not getting vaccinated, which makes the situation for all of worse by postponing our health and economic recovery,” he wrote. “The CDC reports that those who are unvaccinated are 9 times more likely to be admitted to the hospital and 14 times more likely to die from COVID than those vaccinated. The number rises to 20 time more likely when compared to someone who’s gotten a booster shot. By posting the uninformed meme, LeBron has encouraged vaccine hesitancy which puts lives and livelihoods at risk.”
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He then called upon the current Lakers star to speak up in favor of the COVID-19 vaccines.
“While LeBron is a necessary and dynamic voice critical of police brutality against the Black community, he needs to be the same necessary and dynamic advocate with vaccines, which could save thousands of Black lives right now. The racism is just as real—and just as lethal—in both cases,” Abdul-Jabbar wrote in closing.
Unvaccinated people are five times more likely to test positive and 14 times more likely to die of COVID-19 than vaccinated patients, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
