LeBron James on U.S. Capitol Siege: 'We Live in Two Americas'

One day after crowds of President Donald Trump supporters breached the U.S. Capitol, Lakers star LeBron James questioned how the response to the siege would have been different if the group of rioters was mostly Black.

"We live in two Americas, and that was a prime example of that yesterday," James said, via CNN, following the Lakers' 118-109 loss to the Spurs on Thursday night. "And if you don't understand that or don't see that after seeing what you saw yesterday then you really need to take a step back–not even just one step, maybe four or five or even 10 steps backwards and ask yourself...How do we want to live in this beautiful country? Because yesterday was not it.

"Being a part of a household with three kids–two boys, a daughter–a wife, a mother-in-law and so many Black folks in my household during that time and it's on the TV, I couldn't help but to wonder, if those were my kind storming the Capitol, what would have been the outcome? And I think we all know. There's no ifs, ands or buts."

The attack was led by pro-Trump supporters attempting to disrupt Congress members as they met to formally count the electors who will make Joe Biden president on Jan. 20. The rioters breached Capitol security, broke windows and ransacked offices, forcing the building to go into lockdown as lawmakers were rushed to safety. 

Lakers forward Anthony Davis criticized how the police response to the Capitol siege differed from the Black Lives Matter protests this summer.

"It's like a double standard," said Davis, via ESPN. "On the other side, an entire group runs into the nation's Capitol and get escorted out the front door like everything is OK.

"And if I'm not mistaken–well, I'm not mistaken–they did take things, and when the Black Lives Matter [movement] protested it was, 'Once the looting starts, the shooting starts.' And to my knowledge, if you take something, you're looting. And in that case, for them, they got escorted out the front door. And it's just a slap in the face to us. It feels like we're going backwards. We thought we were seeing change and then this happens."

In May, Trump tweeted, "When the looting starts, the shooting starts," threatening that the military would "assume control" in response to protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, who died while being violently restrained by police officers in Minneapolis. Across the nation, the Black Lives Matter movement fought and advocated for racial and social justice.

Since the Capitol breach, several NBA coaches and players have used their time with the media this week to speak out about the situation.

Prior to Wednesday night's games, Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer described viewing the incident as "very frustrating," while Raptors coach Dwane Casey called the Capitol storming an "attack on our democracy first, and hypocrisy on top of that."