Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz took President Donald Trump to task on Twitter for recent comments made about LeBron James.
If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. It’s a message we can all get behind, and one that Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell tried to relay with a tweet early Saturday morning.
So who was it that prompted the first-year phenom to take to Twitter with life lessons? None other than the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump.
On Friday, Trump stirred up controversy with a tweet of his own; a commentary on LA Lakers star LeBron James‘ interview with CNN’s Don Lemon, which was re-aired that night. During the CNN Monday sit-down, James — who has been critical of the President at times in the past — made reference to Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling protests, as well as Golden State Warriors’ front-man Stephen Curry‘s call not to visit the White House after his squad captured the NBA title.
Tweeted Trump —
"Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do. I like Mike!"
Whether you’re down with the POTUS or not, those statements don’t really come off as respectful to anyone (except Michael Jordan, who Trump apparently backs in basketball’s GOAT debate). As for Mitchell, he wasn’t having any of it.
The pride of Utah instead took it upon himself to call the Donald out for being a bad example for kids —
https://twitter.com/spidadmitchell/status/1025719952739844098
Again, if you can’t say something nice…
This isn’t the first time a Jazzman has responded to comments made by the President. Most recently, big man Rudy Gobert had some words for Fox News contributor Tomi Lahren when she defended Trump’s reported use of derogatory verbiage to describe Haiti and African nations —
Do you know what it means to have Dreams? To actually have to work for something? Does the fact that i left France to come chase my dream here makes France a shithole? Or that just applies to African countries? Getting paid to divide people really looks like a shitty job. https://t.co/va2KbfRuSG
— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) January 13, 2018
Clearly, Jazz players aren’t afraid to speak out if they see or hear something they think is wrong. Even if it comes from the President. Meanwhile, Mitchell continues to show awareness beyond his years. Just this week, he spontaneously helped out a fan in need of phone repairs.
Oh, and not that anyone asked me, but I’ll take LBJ over MJ and the Donald all day at this point.