LeBron James Doubles Down In COVID-19 Spat With Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The NBA’s all-time leading scorer isn’t a fan of The King’s recent statements.
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Two months after calling out LeBron James’ hesitancy to promote the vaccine, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar still isn’t a fan of his recent statements about COVID-19. The moratorium between these two sports icons led to an online essay and a doubling-down by The King.
Abdul-Jabbar, 74, logged onto his Substack to criticize the Los Angeles Lakers star, this time for a widely criticized meme James posted to his Instagram page.
The offending meme: a three-way Spider-Man pointing meme with the figure’s label “covid,” “cold,” and “flu,” the implication being that the three illnesses are basically the same, which is empirically false.
With the post still up for all of his followers to see, Abdul-Jabbar’s essay caused quite a stir in the NBA sports world. Following a 132-123 win over the Houston Rockets, James initially responded to questions by saying he doesn’t have a response to the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and Hall of Fame legend.
He then proceeded to respond by doubling down on the idea that the flu and common cold are similarly serious.
“No, I don’t have a response to Kareem at all,” he continued. “And if you saw the post and you read the tag, you know that I’m literally, honestly asking, ‘help me out.’ Help me kind of figure it all out like we’re all trying to figure this pandemic out. We’re all trying to figure out COVID and the new strain. And the flu, I think people forgot about the flu. People literally forgot about the flu during these times, [and] that’s still going around. It’s flu season, so people have forgotten about the flu. People have forgotten about common colds. That happens, especially with a lot of our kids that are in school. My daughter is in first grade, so a lot of these kids are getting common colds and getting the flu. But no, I don’t have any response to Kareem. No. At all.”
Abdul-Jabbar’s Substack essay highlights that while comparisons to the flu have been frequently used in minimizing the impact of COVID-19, the total number of deaths and hospitalizations Comparisons to the flu have been frequently used in minimizing the impact of COVID-19 — the common cold less so — but as Abdul-Jabbar’s numbers show, the total number of deaths and hospitalizations is far more serious.
The Trump administration has given schools and universities across the country just two weeks to eliminate diversity initiatives or risk losing federal funding. In a memo issued Friday, the U.S. Department of Education ordered institutions to stop using “racial preferences” in admissions, financial aid, hiring, or any other areas. Schools have 14 days to eliminate any practice that considers race as a factor, a move that could dramatically reshape campus life.
Educators across the country are scrambling to assess their risk, weighing whether to fight for policies they believe are legally sound. The sweeping directive could upend everything from college application essays to faculty hiring and student organizations.
The memo frames the crackdown as an effort to combat discrimination.“With this guidance, the Trump Administration is directing schools to end the use of racial preferences and race stereotypes in their programs and activities—a victory for justice, civil rights laws, and the Constitution,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor.
“Schools have been operating on the pretext that selecting students for ‘diversity’ or similar euphemisms is not selecting them based on race. No longer. Students should be assessed according to merit, accomplishment, and character—not prejudged by the color of their skin,” Trainor added.
The backlash from civil rights groups and higher education leaders was swift. Many argue the vague language is designed to have a chilling effect, pressuring schools to abandon any programs touching on race—even those that could hold up in court.
“Creating a sense of risk around doing work that might promote diverse and welcoming campuses is much more of the goal than a clear statement of existing law,” Jonathan Fansmith, senior vice president of government relations at the American Council on Education, an association of college presidents told the Associated Press.
The directive builds on Trump’s previous executive order banning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and cites the 2023 Supreme Court ruling that struck down race-conscious college admissions.“Put simply, educational institutions may neither separate nor segregate students based on race, nor distribute benefits or burdens based on race,” the memo states.
The Education Department is also slashing $600 million in grants for teacher training programs that promote concepts like DEI, critical race theory and social justice activism, calling them “divisive.”
Uncertainty over how far this anti-DEI order will reach was evident during last week’s confirmation hearing for education secretary nominee Linda McMahon. When asked whether courses on African American history would violate the president’s order, McMahon admitted she wasn’t sure.
Despite the pressure, some education leaders are urging schools not to overreact. The School Superintendents Association has reminded members that the new guidance is not legally binding, and any funding cuts would require lengthy investigations.
“We’re not certain a district should do anything beyond reading the guidance, talking to their legal counsel, and gauging community interest in keeping existing programs,” said Sasha Pudelski, the group’s director of advocacy.
At the heart of the memo is a direct challenge to college admissions policies. The guidance warns that schools cannot use essays as a way to infer an applicant’s race—a key concern since the Supreme Court’s ruling left room for students to discuss race in personal statements. Chief Justice John Roberts acknowledged this possibility but cautioned that colleges could not use essays as a loophole to achieve racial diversity.
The memo also targets schools that have eliminated standardized testing requirements. It argues that dropping SAT and ACT requirements to increase racial diversity is unlawful, even though many universities have moved away from standardized tests over concerns that they favor wealthy students.
Longstanding practices—such as recruiting in underrepresented areas or obtaining lists of potential students based on academic and demographic factors—could now be seen as legal risks. Scholarships for students of specific racial backgrounds are also under scrutiny. While legal experts continue to debate whether the Supreme Court’s decision extends to financial aid, some institutions have already removed racial criteria from certain scholarships.
The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators is working to understand the memo’s implications. “The last thing students need when making plans about how to pay for college is uncertainty over when or whether they will receive financial aid they’ve been relying on,” the group said in a statement to the Associated Press.
Trump has called for eliminating the Education Department altogether, and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has already slashed dozens of federal contracts it deemed wasteful.