LeBron James uses his basketball skills to try and force his way into being a cultural force in America. And he does it whether you like it or not.
The NBA All-Star jumped ship to the Los Angeles Lakers in the obvious, which was obviously in some part due to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, California so he can produce and star in movies and television, like his upcoming Space Jam 2 and HBO’s The Shop. That’s a big part of future goals whether he publicly admits it or not.
But HBO should be utterly embarrassed by LeBron James’ The Shop and here’s why.
There are a lot of shows on television that are just celebrities – whether its journalists, actors, musicians, politicians or athletes – sitting around talking about their profession with each other or through a mediator since the creation of the medium.
Some are good. Some are bad.
But LeBron James’ The Shop is atrocious because it’s one of the most tone-deaf things you’ll ever witness.
The Shop is a half-hour HBO show that is LeBron James and his longtime business partner, Maverick Carter, discussing whatever comes into their brains with a slew of different celebrities in a barbershop.
Some of the celebrities that have appeared on the show include Jon Stewart, Jimmy Kimmel, Anthony Davis, Antonio Brown, Ben Simmons, Draymond Green, Ice Cube, Mary J. Blige and Todd Gurley.
Its tone is a casual atmosphere where they can talk about controversial issues, and yes, they bash President Trump frequently on the show.
The Shop is literally about celebrities not only blowing smoke up each others’ butts but also whining about how awful it is to be in the public eye.
That’s really the main focus of the show and how tone deaf is it that you’re literally going to do a TV show – where the entire goal is to get people to watch it – and complain about the viewers they’re catering to?
In the last episode, Jamie Foxx rained down praise on James, Carter, Anthony Davis, Antonio Brown, Meek Mill,and 2 Chainz as if they are a new generational wave of “standing up against the man” that he wasn’t “afforded to do so” when he was their age.
They talk to each other as if they are all significant on the level of Martin Luther King Jr. and it’s frankly embarrassing that HBO even allow such hyperbole.
And the whole time they’re pretending to be such an “amazing” influence on children, they’re throwing around the “F” word like it’s water.
In the last episode, James said about Kaepernick, “Kap’s still for something that was bigger than him. He sacrificed. How many people can wake up and say, you know what? I’ll give everything that I’ve worked for my whole life for the better of the conversation. Oh, I’m gonna lose everything I got personally for the better of the conversation. That’s why we can sit here and salute Kap.”
What exactly did he sacrifice? His career?
Kaepernick wasn’t good in his last couple of years.
Was it Money?
It’s estimated that he received a settlement anywhere between 30-80 million dollars. So it’s not that.
HBO should be ashamed.