Lakers LeBron James Fires off Hot Take Just in Time for Christmas
Just because Christmas Eve is going to be a quiet night on the court, that doesn't mean the NBA would not generate any buzz. LeBron James made sure of that when he fired off a controversial meme on his Instagram.
The meme entails the Spiderman template, where three of them are pointing at each other. It insinuated that he thought COVID, the common cold, and seasonal flu were basically the same, and that the majority of people would recover from it. Other athletes like Trae Young and PJ Tucker commented with laughter or agreement in the comments.
COVID is on pace to pass over one million deaths just in the United States alone. Moreover, studies have shown that the risk of death of COVID is three times that compared to the seasonal flu.
The new Omicron variant has spread like a wildfire amongst the NBA. Just this month alone, over 100 players have entered COVID protocols and missed time. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has said over 90% of the cases were of the Omicron variant. Early studies from South Africa, Scotland, and England have shown that this variant is less severe to the Delta variant. Still, medical professionals warn this should be taken with cautious optimism and more data needs to be done to show that this variant will lower the risk of hospital visits and fatalities.
Maybe, James was pointing to how most of the players that contracted COVID showed little to no symptoms of the virus, but it is a fact it is more easily transmittable than previous variants. The chances of passing on the virus to people with a weaker immune system is still very possible, and with families expected to gather for Christmas, we could be seeing a rise in cases as we start off 2022.
The fact James is seen as a role model, and is firing off these sorts of memes is a bit of a letdown to many, especially in the health profession. James is not the first athlete to express their opposition to how we are approaching caution with the virus. Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers went through backlash when it was shown that he was unvaccinated and expressed doubts that vaccines worked.
