“This issue is bigger than me,” says LeBron in response to #NoJusticeNoLebron Movement

LeBron James responded Tuesday to activists who asked him to use his superstardom to help seek justice for Tamir Rice. In the wake of the decision not to indict the two officers involved in the deadly shooting, James declared that, “this issue is bigger than LeBron. This issue is bigger than me.”

James announced that he was not informed enough about the case and the grand jury’s decision.

“For me, I’ve always been a guy who’s took pride in knowledge of every situation that I’ve ever spoke on,” said James in his address following the Cavs’ win over the Denver Nuggets. “And to be honest, I haven’t really been on top of this issue. So it’s hard for me to comment.”

“I understand that any lives that [are] lost, what we want more than anything is a prayer and the best for the family, for anyone. But for me to comment on the situation, I don’t have enough knowledge about it,” James said according to an ESPN article.

He provided no opinion on the grand jury decision, despite his previous willingness to speak out about social issues. While playing for the Miami Heat, James helped orchestrate a photo of the team wearing hoodies in support of Trayvon Martin and posted the photo to his Twitter with the supporting hashtag #wearetrayvonmartin.

Last year, James also showed support for Eric Garner by wearing an “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirt during pregame warm-ups. In October, James took to Twitter once again to show sympathy for the family of Aavielle Wakefield, a five month-old killed in a drive-by shooting in Cleveland. James did call for stronger gun laws across the nation following this shooting saying that, “there’s so many [guns] around now, today. But if there’s some stipulations behind it or some penalties, some big time penalties or rules or regulations about carrying firearms, legal or illegal, people will second-guess themselves.”

However, in the Tamir Rice case, James remained impartial. When asked what someone in his position could do to help enact social change in the country James responded, “First of all, I think I’ve been very outspoken about what I believe in. What hits home for me, [is] what I am [knowledgeable] about. There’s been so many more issues that’s gone on that I haven’t spoken about.”

He then went on to list other national tragedies he hadn’t commented on such as the San Bernardino massacre and shootings that have occurred in movie theaters, one of which happened in July during a screening of Trainwreck, in which James played a role.

“I’m not much of a social media guy. I’m on it, for sure, but I’m not always looking at what’s going on in it,” said James as he reiterated how he was unable to give his opinion because he wasn’t informed enough about the movement.

This article appears in Dec 30, 2015 – Jan 5, 2016.