LeBron James
LeBron James

PHILADELPHIA — LeBron James needed only one sentence to answer the president of the United States. He needed a whole night to answer the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Hours after President Donald Trump called the Philadelphia 76ers star a "TOTAL DISGRACE" for moving around during the national anthem, James helped the Sixers erase a 29-point deficit and beat Cleveland 114-106 in Thursday night's home opener. Asked afterward about the president's remarks, James waved them off.

"It must be a slow news day at the office," James said. "Slow news day at the office."

He said nothing more on the subject.

Video draws president's ire

The dispute started with a short clip from Philadelphia's season opener against the New York Knicks on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. As "The Star-Spangled Banner" played, James appeared to keep warming up, going through the motion of a golf swing and a jump shot while most of his teammates stood still beside him.

Trump shared the video on Truth Social on Thursday and accused the 41-year-old of disrespecting the country.

"While listening to our National Anthem, LeBron James disrespects our Country! I said right from the beginning that he's no good, a TOTAL DISGRACE," Trump wrote.

The president also said James owed the country an apology.

"LeBron James should apologize to all of those Great American Warriors and Heroes who died for the American Flag, and all that our Country stands for!" he wrote.

Trump brought it up again Thursday night at a campaign rally in Sioux City, Iowa, describing his own reaction to the footage.

"And what about LeBron James? Did you see that deal?" Trump said. "No, he's doing, during the national anthem he's practicing his golf swing. I said what the hell is that. It's a big scandal kind of a story. I don't understand it."

A different posture in Philadelphia

James looked noticeably different during the anthem at Xfinity Mobile Arena. He stood with his arms behind his back and his head bowed as Philadelphia's Boyz II Men sang before tipoff. When he was introduced, the crowd of about 20,000 gave him a loud ovation in his first home game as a Sixer.

James did not post on social media about the president's comments before the game and did not address Trump's demand for an apology afterward.

Sixers coach Nick Nurse has talked about tuning out distractions since training camp began. The president's post gave his team a new one hours before its first home game, and Nurse grouped it with the rest.

"I think that goes right in with other outside noise we've already had," Nurse said before the game. "I keep saying the same thing. All I really care about is getting to the practice floor, getting them in the film room, getting them to the game floor. The focus that they've had and the intent and all the stuff like that has been outstanding."

A historic comeback

That focus was hard to see early. Cleveland went up by 29 points and appeared to be headed for an easy win on the road.

Philadelphia came all the way back. The comeback was the largest in franchise history in the play-by-play era, and the largest of James' career, which is now in its record 24th season.

James finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals in 33 minutes. He played a supporting role to Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and Jaylen Brown, each of whom scored at least 20 points. The win improved Philadelphia to 2-0.

James, the NBA's career scoring leader, joined the Sixers in the offseason. His arrival on a roster that already had Embiid, Maxey and Brown made Philadelphia one of the most talked-about teams going into the season, and the extra attention has come with it.

A rivalry nearly a decade old

Thursday's exchange was the latest in a feud that goes back to Trump's first term.

In September 2017, after Trump withdrew a White House invitation to Golden State's Stephen Curry, James called the president "U bum" on Twitter and wrote that visiting the White House "was a great honor until you showed up!"

A few days later, at Cleveland's media day, James declined to walk the comment back.

"He doesn't understand how many kids, no matter the race, look up to the president of the United States for guidance, for leadership, for words of encouragement," James said. "He doesn't understand that, and that's what makes me more sick than anything."

That same season, James wore one black shoe and one white shoe with the word "equality" on the back in a game. He said afterward: "This is a beautiful country and we're never going to let one person dictate how beautiful and how powerful we are."

In February 2018, Fox News host Laura Ingraham told James to "shut up and dribble" after he criticized the president in an interview. James answered directly.

"We will definitely not shut up and dribble," James said. "I will definitely not do that. I mean too much to society. I mean too much to the youth."

Trump went after James himself in August 2018, after James sat for a CNN interview with Don Lemon shortly after opening his I Promise School in Akron, Ohio. Trump wrote that Lemon "made Lebron look smart, which isn't easy to do," and added, "I like Mike!", a reference to Michael Jordan.

The national anthem came up again in August 2020, when NBA players knelt during the anthem in the league's bubble in Florida. Trump called the protests "disgraceful" and said he turned off games when he saw them. James, then with the Los Angeles Lakers, was unbothered.

"I really don't think the basketball community are sad about losing his viewership, him viewing the game," James said at the time.

James has made his position on athlete activism plain over the years. When AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic said in 2021 that athletes should stay out of politics, James rejected it.

"I would never shut up about things that are wrong," he said.

Anthem debate returns

Trump has spent years criticizing athletes for how they act during the anthem. During his first term, he pushed the NFL to punish players who knelt, a protest Colin Kaepernick started in 2016 against racial injustice and police brutality.

This time there was no protest. James did not kneel or raise a fist, and the clip shows warmup movements rather than a political gesture. That did not stop the 80-year-old president from going after one of his oldest targets in sports, two days after the game and in the middle of a campaign swing.

For James, the response was the same as it has been for years: a short line, a shrug and back to basketball.

Philadelphia's next game is Saturday.