Matt Barnes Defends LeBron James, Rips 'Dumbass President' Donald Trump
Former NBA player Matt Barnes thinks Donald Trump is a "dumbass president."
He said as much to TMZ Sports in an interview discussing Trump's decision to question LeBron James' intelligence on Twitter days after the four-time MVP opened a school in Akron to help at-risk children with their education and eventually get to college.
Trump ripped James in a tweet late Friday night:
TMZ shared the entire interview with Barnes on its YouTube page (warning: NSFW language), and Barnes went on to say he thinks Trump is racist. He also revealed he is planning on getting involved in politics in Sacramento.
This wasn’t the first time Barnes was critical of Trump regarding the president’s decision to attack James.
The former Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento Kings, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns, Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies player took to Instagram to express his views, saying, "Trump is the perfect example of how a man shouldn’t act!"
Barnes also called for Michael Jordan—who Trump praised in the tweet—to stand against the president. Jordan did so in a released statement, saying, "I support LJ. He's doing an amazing job for his community," per Geoff Bennett of NBC News.
He was one of a number of athletes who were critical of Trump and supportive of James after the tweet, including plenty of NBA players such as Stephen Curry, Karl-Anthony Towns, Donovan Mitchell and Nick Young:
The tweet came after James' interview with CNN's Don Lemon in which he said of Trump, "What I've noticed over the past few months, he's kinda used sports to kinda divide us, and that's something that I can't relate to."
It wasn't the first time James criticized the president. He subtweeted Trump and called him a "bum" when the president rescinded a White House invitation for the Golden State Warriors.
While there is clearly tension between James and Trump, as well as the sports world as a whole and the president, Melania Trump's spokesperson Stephanie Grisham said the First Lady would be willing to visit James' I Promise school and was supportive of the Los Angeles Lakers star's work in the community, per Jonathan Lemire of the Associated Press.
