The Republican convention soon debuts in the very arena where the Cleveland Cavaliers play, and with that in mind, team owner Dan Gilbert aired an idea: LeBron James should run for president as a Republican.
Gilbert himself is a well-known GOP supporter having donated at least $750,000 to Chis Christie when the New Jersey governor was still vying for the GOP nomination for president.
But even though his preferred candidate is now famously all in for Trump, Gilbert, the founder of Quicken Loans, seems unhappy with the likely possibility that New York businessman Donald Trump will soon become the Republican nominee for president.
So, as the Cavs were still celebrating their victory, Gilbert confessed to Cleveland.com that he urged his star player to throw his sweatband into the ring for the GOP nomination.
“I said you know the Republican convention is tearing up the arena, you should insert yourself in now,” Gilbert told the local media.
“Maybe they want another candidate now,” Gilbert added. “He actually paused for a second. He looked up and I said hold on, the Constitution says you have to be 35 to run for president.”
Indeed, James is just 31 this year, so he misses the required age by at least one presidential term. Maybe in 2020 he can give it a whirl.
Still, it isn’t likely LeBron really gave the in-jest suggestion even a second of serious thought. After all, the Finals MVP has been a vocal supporter of the Democrat Party and even shilled for Obamacare at one point.
As Breitbart News reported back in 2014, along with fronting for McDonalds, Sprite and Powerade, James also signed on to push Obama’s disastrous takeover of the country’s healthcare industry.
As the then Miami Heat power forward maintained in an Obamacare TV ad, “I know how important it is to take care of yourself, your friends, and your family. That’s why I wanted to tell you about the health insurance marketplace at healthcare.gov.”
With all that Democrat support, if James were to jump into politics someday, it is quite doubtful it would ever be as a Republican.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com