LeBron James’ comments on China have stirred up a lot of people.

In an effort to promote the league, the NBA has been playing preseason games in China for many years now. This year, though, there were political issues to overcome. The issue pertains to China trying to gain more power over Hong Kong. As a result, protests, both violent and nonviolent, have become prevalent. The conflict has been going on for almost six months, but just recently the tensions have risen.

“Before all of this drama, I had no idea what was happening in Hong Kong,” senior Blake Ebner said.

Last month, James was asked about a tweet Houston Rockets General Manager Darryl Morrey sent out. It read, “free Hong Kong.” Shortly after posting, it was deleted and both the GM and the NBA issued swift apologies. Days later, James was asked about the situation, and said, “I just think that when you’re misinformed or you’re not educated about something — and I’m just talking about the tweet itself — you never know the ramifications that can happen. We all see what that did — not only for our league but for all of us in America, for people in China as well,” according to CNN. Those comments have a lot of people questioning his allegiances.

“For over a week, all of social media was just going after LeBron. And I can’t say I blame them,” senior Jack Ives said.

After that statement was reported, the criticism started to pour in for the superstar. He took to Twitter to try to rectify the situation, tweeting, “Let me clear up the confusion. I do not believe there was any consideration for the consequences and ramifications of the tweet. I’m not discussing the substance. Others can talk About that.” However, that seemed to only stir the pot, as James has been known throughout his career to advocate for social injustice, like what is happening in Hong Kong. He decided to tap out on this issue, though. 

“[It was a ] Coward move by LeBron to not tell his true opinions on the major problems going on in Hong Kong,” senior Ethan Markovich said.

More than a month removed from the situation, LeBron has yet to provide further comment.