Be a Witness (Part 1)

(Update: Henry Abbott writes a blog called TrueHoop for ESPN. He attempts to write a defense for LeBron. In it he gives lots of good information about the conflict in the Sudan. However, his main arguments seem to be that the letter is imperfect, and the NBA and Nike might not like it. These excuses do not cut it for me.)
Tomorrow night is game 1 of the NBA finals. I'm torn about this. I'm a little heart-broken that my Pistons won't be there. But the bigger issue is my feelings toward basketball's messiah.

It seems that there powers at work to try make us forget this guy's character flaws. All those stories of him being paid as a high school player disappeared pretty quickly. Nobody seems to care that he dubbed himself "King James". I have always thought it lame to nickname yourself, but to nickname yourself "King" is royally lame.

But none of this is beyond normal pro-athlete megalomania. And I would look the other way, and count myself a witness of LeBron's (anyone uncomfortable with this campaign?). He is fun to watch. However, the latest scandal may be too difficult to ignore.

Bron Bron's teammate and Mo-town native, Ira Newble, has written an open letter to China, asking them to stop aiding the genocide in the Sudan. What does China have to do with Darfur?David Aldridge of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports:

According to the Web site dreamfordarfur.org , China has provided $10 billion in economic aid to the Sudanese government, buying oil and providing the Sudanese government with weapons and weapons technology.

Those weapons and the oil money are then used by the Janjaweed, perhaps the
most lethal of the Sudanese militias, which has waged unrelenting attacks on the
non-Arab Muslim farmers throughout the country for the last five years.

The advocacy group Human Rights Watch said that more than 200,000 people
have been killed by the Janjaweed since 2003, more than two million people are
displaced and homeless, and another two million have been adversely impacted by
the economic displacement created, with the conflict spilling into neighboring Chad.

China blocked implementation of a resolution passed last August that calls for a peacekeeping force of more than 22,000 soldiers to be put on the ground in Darfur to stop the fighting.

Newble asked his teammates to sign the letter with him. All but Damon Jones and Lebron James did. Damon Jones did not comment (he's used to putting up no defense), but he is under contract with a Chinese athletic apparel company. (Have they seen him play? Do they specialize in clothing for sitting on the bench?) James said he did not know enough about the situation, but he is under a $90 million contract with Nike who has heavy business relations in China.

Really? You don't know enough? Well, I can do the math. there are only 200,000 (slayed farmers) reasons to sign it and 90,000,000 (dollars) reasons not to sign it. The sad part is that his signature would be the most influential (perhaps only influential) signature on the letter. He will likely be the biggest star in Beijing's 2008 Olympic games.

Well, I am a witness. But I do not like what I'm witnessing. Another heartless millionaire too in love with the dollar sign to give a damn about the worst suffering in the world. Some king.

I hope all the Spurs volunteer to sign it just to highlight what a classless move the petulant 22 year-old made.