Bengaluru, September 26: Legendary basketball player LeBron James has come in support of NFL players who protested during the national anthem in the wake of comments by US President Donald Trump.
Remarks and tweets by Trump insulted NFL players who kneeled during pre-game renditions of "The Star-Spangled Banner" to follow Colin Kaepernick's protest move from last season over racial discrimination to African-Americans.
That led to most NFL players locking arms with each other and owners in protest of Trump's free speech put- down, more players than ever electing to kneel after Trump said players should be fired for insulting the nation.
Though US Winter Olympic athletes were as divided as the nation on NFL player protests, the Cleveland Cavaliers star, who has has won three NBA championships, praised the players' unity, and said: "The people run this country."
Rise and Grind my people!! May today be a great productive one! #StriveforGreatness🚀
— LeBron James (@KingJames) September 26, 2017
The 32-year-old added: "I'm not going to let one individual, no matter their power, ever use sport as a platform to divide us.
"Sport is so amazing, what it can do for everyone. No matter the shape, size, weight, ethnicity, religion or whatever - people find teams, players and colours because of sport. It brings people together like none other," added James, who had campaigned for Hillary Clinton, Trump's rival, during the 2016 presidential election campaign.