LeBron James Supports Barack Obama

Cavs Star Contributes to Pro-Obama Fund

Politics is something that athletes occasionally get involved in, you'll see statements come out from some of them like Etan Thomas or David Robinson either in favor or against the war in Iraq. Occasionally you'll see some of them run for office. The most recent case of this would be former New York Knicks guard becoming a Democratic U.S. Senator/Presidential candidate. Another example would be Jim Ryun who was an Olympic medal winning triathalon participant Jim Ryun who would go on to become a Republican Congressman from Kansas. With all due respect to Ryun and Bradley though you hardly see many universally recognized athletes take a stand for a candidate or cause.

There is of course Michael Jordan who is a known contributor to several Democratic candidates was even reportedly asked to run for office in North Carolina. Jordan declined however saying that he didn't want his personal life invaded. With Michael having left the game as an a basketball player the NBA has been looking for someone to carry the torch as a market friendly, superstar phenom ever since. They may have found their knight in shining armor so to speak in regards to LeBron James, who was anointed King James before he had left the high school ranks has not disappointed most analysts/observers from a personal performance standpoint since making the jump to the NBA.

With all that celebrity come a lot of endorsements, fandom and a lot of open doors within society. Next to that foyer of chance comes a lot of social pressure. When you are making millions of dollars every year people want you to lend your name to this or that cause to help it gain exposure. LeBron James had previously not expressed any opinions about where he stood on the political spectrum. LeBron James wasn't even sure if it was a good thing to do to sign a petition calling for more attention to be paid to the Darfur situation. LeBron admitted that he knew of the crisis, but wanted to be careful about what he is signing. He said he needed to do more research.