NBPA's Michele Roberts Defends LeBron James, Calls Laura Ingraham Intolerant

LeBron James continues to get support from the NBA after tackling political and social views this past week.

The Cleveland Cavaliers star was told to "shut up and dribble" by Fox News host Laura Ingraham (via Sports Illustrated), but NBPA executive director Michele Roberts defended James on Sunday.

"Between LeBron’s 40 million followers and Durant's 17 million followers on Twitter, Laura Ingraham has now introduced herself as intolerant and narrow-minded to 57 million people around the world," Roberts said, per Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated. "We stand with our players."

Commissioner Adam Silver also supported James and Kevin Durant's rights to speak on social issues during a discussion on the topic Saturday.

"I'm incredibly proud of our players for using the platform they have as players in the NBA and on social media to speak out on issues that are important to them," Silver said, via Jack Maloney of CBS Sports.

The recent controversy began Thursday when UNINTERRUPTED released a video of James and Durant discussing social issues and Donald Trump's presidency with broadcast journalist Cari Champion.

After Ingraham's comments, James responded on his Twitter account and then during a press conference, via SportsCenter:

James is the vice president of the league's players association, and he clearly has the support from the executive end with Roberts. Adding in Silver's comments, the league and players appear to be united on this topic.