LeBron James isn’t a Cowboys fan anymore due to the team’s handling player national anthem protests

‘I had to sit down on the Cowboys’: LeBron James reveals he isn’t a Dallas fan anymore after they threatened to cut players who protested during the national anthem in 2017… and is now ‘all in’ on the Cleveland Browns

NBA icon LeBron James isn’t supporting the Dallas Cowboys anymore, revealing he stopped cheering for them years ago due to the team’s lack of support of national anthem protests.

James had been seen supporting his hometown team – the Cleveland Browns – which led to many wondering if he still had love for the Cowboys.

That no longer seems to be the case. On an Instagram live session with lifelong friend and business partner Maverick Carter, he said he was disappointed with the team telling players they could lose their spot on the team if they kneeled during the Star-Spangled Banner alongside Colin Kaepernick.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones

LeBron James said he stopped supporting the Cowboys after owner Jerry Jones threatened to cut players who kneeled in protest during the playing of the national anthem before games

Jerry Jones knelt with his team in 2017 - but stood up while the national anthem was sung

Jerry Jones knelt with his team in 2017 – but stood up while the national anthem was sung

‘I had to sit down on the Cowboys man,’ James said on the live cast. ‘It’s just things that were going on when guys were kneeling and guys were having the freedom of speech and wanted to do it in a very peaceful manner. 

‘A lot of people in the front office and a lot of people that ran the organization was like, “If you do that around here, then you will never play for this franchise again.” I just didn’t think that was appropriate. I’m all in on the Browns.’

Those comments were clearly directed at Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who has kneeled with his players in the past – but not during the national anthem. Jones and James have spoken before – with the owner offering LeBron a contract to play with Dallas during the 2011 NBA lockout.

Speaking about players kneeling during the anthem in 2017, Jones said: ‘If we are disrespecting the flag, then we won’t play. Period. Period.

‘We cannot in the NFL, in any way, give the implication that we tolerate disrespecting the flag. We cannot do that.’

In 2017, the Cowboys and Jones knelt as a team before the anthem began and stood as the anthem was sung before a game with the Arizona Cardinals.

James added that he still cheers for individual Cowboys players like CeeDee Lamb, Ezekiel Elliot and Micah Parsons, but can’t support Dallas as a team. 

The Dallas Cowboys have done surprisingly well this season, going 5-2 with backup quarterback Cooper Rush at the helm. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Browns have struggled and sit at 2-5. 

James and Jones have been on speaking terms before, with LeBron even being offered a contract by the Cowboys owner to play with them during the 2011 NBA lockout

James and Jones have been on speaking terms before, with LeBron even being offered a contract by the Cowboys owner to play with them during the 2011 NBA lockout

James is still the best player on this Lakers team that is off to a horrible 0-4 start on the season

James is still the best player on this Lakers team that is off to a horrible 0-4 start on the season

LeBron and his Los Angeles Lakers team, meanwhile, has had a terrible start to their NBA season – going 0-4 in their first games of the season.

To his credit, the 37-year old James remains the best player on this team – leading the Lakers in minutes (36.3), points (25.2), rebounds (10.0), and assists (7.8).

Los Angeles looks for its first win of the season Friday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves.