LeBron James, after helping lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a last-second victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night, turned more subdued after describing the late-game heroics.
Before the game, James, his teammates and the Atlanta Hawks wore T-shirts emblazoned with “ENOUGH,” four days after the shooting in Thousand Oaks, Calif., in which 12 people were killed.
“When I was younger, we didn’t really have to worry about gun violence,’’ said James, who grew up in Akron, Ohio. “I mean, if you had a problem with somebody you kind of fist it out and moved on. And now it’s like people are like shooting it out and don’t even have a problem with somebody. They just have a problem with themselves or a problem with the situation they’re in.
“It’s just very troubling times for everyone. You know, as parents, how can you be comfortable sending your kids to school or send them to church or send them to the movies or send them to the mall?’’
Growing up, James said, those activities and attending sporting events were “like heaven.’’ But that was then. Now? “It’s kind of scary at this point in time.’’
Saturday at the Staples Center, the Los Angeles Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks wore variations of the same T-shirts, which on the backs included the names of the victims.
“I think it’s about recognizing what’s going on with society and with us being so close to this situation and not being too far away, and of all my prayers and my condolences to all the families that have lost loved ones. …
"I think it comes back to this gun situation that we have in America. Gun violence. People are being able to just go and buy guns and do things with them and innocent lives are being taken. At young ages, young ages.’’
James was asked about his reaction upon hearing about the shooting massacre after 28-year-old U.S. Marine Corps veteran Ian David Long shot and killed 12 people at Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks before killing himself.
“Probably the same that went through everybody’s mind,’’ he said. “Again? Wow. What the hell? Probably some more explicit terms that I’m not going to say right now.’’
