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LeBron James once raged against the machine. Increasingly, he helps prop it up

LeBron James was once one of the world’s most outspoken athletes. Now he’s plugging a predictions market and an authoritarian leader There was a time when LeBron James’s views on abuses of political power were considered dangerous enough that Donald Trump’s allies told him to shut up and dribble. But over time, James has become less outspoken. After he built a reputation as a voice on social issues and human rights, anti-government protesters in Hong Kong burned his jersey over what they saw as his lack of support for their campaign. Alongside plenty of other US athletes, he has barely spoken on politics during Trump’s second term in power. There was the recent dismal sight of him promoting a prediction market (although at least he kept his clothes on ). Now he is happily associating with – and helping promote – an authoritarian leader. On Sunday, Angola’s president, João Lourenço, welco

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LeBron James was once one of the world’s most outspoken athletes. Now he’s plugging a predictions market and an authoritarian leader There was a time when LeBron James’s views on abuses of political power were considered dangerous enough that Donald Trump’s allies told him to shut up and dribble. But over time, James has become less outspoken. After he built a reputation as a voice on social issues and human rights, anti-government protesters in Hong Kong burned his jersey over what they saw as his lack of support for their campaign. Alongside plenty of other US athletes, he has barely spoken on politics during Trump’s second term in power. There was the recent dismal sight of him promoting a prediction market (although at least he kept his clothes on ). Now he is happily associating with – and helping promote – an authoritarian leader. On Sunday, Angola’s president, João Lourenço, welco

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According to The Guardian’s source item, LeBron James once raged against the machine. Increasingly, he helps prop it up, LeBron James was once one of the world’s most outspoken athletes. Now he’s plugging a predictions market and an authoritarian leader There was a time when LeBron James’s views on abuses of political power were considered dangerous enough that Donald Trump’s allies told him to shut up and dribble. But over time, James has become less outspoken. After he built a reputation as a voice on social issues and human rights, anti-government protesters in Hong Kong burned his jersey over what they saw as his lack of support for their campaign. Alongside plenty of other US athletes, he has barely spoken on politics during Trump’s second term in power. There was the recent dismal sight of him promoting a prediction market (although at least he kept his clothes on ). Now he is happily associating with – and helping promote – an authoritarian leader. On Sunday, Angola’s president, João Lourenço, welco

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The development sits in VINI’s Technology file for readers following technology, science, product policy, markets, infrastructure, and the public consequences of innovation. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The source item is dated 2026-09-17T09:00:45+00:00.

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Primary source: LeBron James once raged against the machine. Increasingly, he helps prop it up via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.

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