LeBron James Finally Backtracks – Says He ‘Fueled The Wrong Conversation’ With Ma’Khia Bryant Tweet

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James finally backtracked a bit from the offensive tweet he posted about an Ohio cop in the wake of the death of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant last month. 

James’ Initial Tweet

Bryant was fatally shot last month by an Ohio police officer who was left with no choice but to open fire.

Dash cam footage showed that the teenager was about to stab another girl with a knife.

After her death, James tweeted out a photo of the cop to his millions of followers along with the caption, “YOU’RE NEXT!” 

Though James deleted the tweet after more information about the shooting came to light, he never issued an apology for shaming this officer and endangering his life.

He still hasn’t apologized. But, James did admit some fault on his part in a tweet he posted on Monday evening. 

Related: Fraternal Order Of Police Tells LeBron James To ‘Educate Himself’ After ‘Disgraceful’ Anti-Cop Tweet

James Backtracks (A Little) 

“I fueled the wrong conversation about Ma’Khia Bryant and I owe it to her and this movement to change it,” he admitted, going on to thank Vox writer Fabiola Cineas “for educating us about Ma’Khia and her story and why this needs to be about her.”

Vox Story Tweeted Out By James

The NBA star tweeted this alongside a link to link to Cineas’ piece, which is titled “Why they’re not saying Ma’Khia Bryant’s name.”

In this story, Cineas claimed that “viewers of various races and political affiliations” decided that Bryant was the knife-wielding “aggressor.”

“The cries for justice that applied to George Floyd did not ring out as loudly for Bryant,” she continued, going on to add: 

“Even after it was discovered that Bryant was living in foster care, that she was in the middle of a fight with older women when police arrived, and that she was allegedly the one who summoned the police for help, people — some of the same people who called for justice in Floyd’s case — used police talking points to justify the four bullets that Reardon unloaded into Bryant’s chest.”

Treva Lindsey, a professor of African American women’s history at Ohio State University, was quoted in the piece as saying that many will claim that Bryant “brought this on herself.”

“People will say, ‘I’m really sad this whole scenario happened, but had she not had that knife ….’ That becomes the ‘but,’ the qualifier, the caveat,” Lindsey said. “And too often we have a caveat when it comes to defending, protecting, and caring for Black girls.”

Related: GoFundMe For Officer Suspended For LeBron Video Approaching $400k

He Needs To Apologize To Ohio Police Officer For Tweet

While we’re glad to see that James has FINALLY admitted some wrongdoing on his part. His tweet really should have been a clear apology to the officer that he endangered.

James’ tweet, and the fact that he posted it alongside that Vox story, indicates that the only guilt he feels for what he did is that he may have damaged “the movement.”

He still does not seem to feel bad at all for wrongfully shaming an innocent cop. Or for disrespecting American police officers everywhere in the process.