LeBron James Explained Why He’ll Have His Last Name On His Jersey In Orlando

The NBA’s bubble league in Orlando will have a few goals. From a basketball perspective, 22 teams will head to Disney to try and determine a champion for the 2019-20 campaign, which has been on pause since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But following the nationwide unrest in the aftermath of George Floyd death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, the league — following some lobbying by a handful of players — will use this as a chance to highlight the worldwide efforts to protest police brutality and systemic racism.

One way this will happen is that NBA players will get their pick of a number of words and phrases that they can wear across the backs of their uniforms in place of their last name. A collection of players have already picked out which phrases they’ll wear, but on Saturday afternoon, we learned that LeBron James will go the more conventional route and put his last name across his back.

As James explained, while he is in support of the initiative — which is by no means mandatory for players who participate in the bubble — none of the messages from which he could choose resonated with him.

James alludes to this, but the various phrases that players can wear were agreed upon following conversations between players and the league. There’s no word on which words or phrases James would have wanted to have in lieu of his name, should he have opted to go in that direction.