LeBron James Hates Darfurians

[StackAttack]

LeBron James Isn't the Cavalier to Admire Most: Scott Soshnick

By Scott Soshnick

May 17 (Bloomberg) -- Which Cleveland Cavaliers' player most deserves your admiration?

Here's a hint:

He doesn't lead the team in scoring, rebounding, or, well, any meaningful basketball metric. So LeBron James is out.

Give up?

Try Ira Newble.

Unlike LeBron, Newble can't claim a $90 million endorsement contract with Nike. Ira's mug isn't plastered on downtown Cleveland's Landmark Office Towers. Nor does he appear, much less star in, television commercials.

This is what Newble does possess:

``Courage and conviction,'' says Mia Farrow, the actress and humanitarian.

Meet Ira Newble, fledgling activist.

First, some history.

President George W. Bush labeled as genocide the killings in the Darfur region of Sudan. The United Nations says the Sudanese government arms an Arab militia, the Janjaweed, which has slaughtered more than 200,000 people and made refugees of 2.5 million more.

China, the Council on Foreign Relations says, buys about two-thirds of Sudan's oil. The Sudanese government uses that money to buy weapons, many of which are made in China. Beijing is slated to host next year's Summer Olympics.

``It's a seminal moment,'' says Farrow, who has dubbed the 2008 Games the ``Genocide Olympics.''

Learning About Darfur

Newble, by his own admission, knew only ``a little'' about the atrocities before reading about Darfur in a newspaper.

Cited in the article he read earlier this season was Smith College professor Eric Reeves, who in mid-March received an e- mail from a professional basketball player whose name he didn't recognize.

``I couldn't sit back and do nothing,'' says Newble, 32, who hopes to visit Darfur this summer. ``It shouldn't just be about making money and living well. It's about what you can do for somebody else.''

With assistance from Reeves and Jill Savitt, director of the Olympic Dream for Darfur campaign, Newble drafted an open letter from professional athletes to China's government.

Newble signed it first.

Armed with information, statistics and photographs Newble made the case to his teammates that they should sign, too. They spoke as a group first, then individually.

Signing On

Newble says he referred to the movies ``Hotel Rwanda'' and ``Blood Diamond,'' knowing his teammates would be familiar with the horrors chronicled on film.

Eleven Cavaliers put pen to paper.

LeBron did not. Neither did Damon Jones, who has a marketing contract with Li-Ning Sports Goods Co. Ltd., a Chinese sneaker and apparel maker.

``It was basically not having enough information,'' LeBron said in an interview before Game 4 of his team's playoff game against the Nets in New Jersey three days ago. ``Any decision I make I have to have extensive knowledge.''

Jones declined to comment, saying ``I'm not commenting about that.''

Newble is resolute, even without the league's biggest star on board.

``This is going to be about the guys who do sign, not who don't,'' Newble says.

`Real World'

Fair enough.

Nevertheless, as Reeves says, ``It's a letter any player of conscience should be able to sign.''

``Ira is a professional athlete with a connection to the real world,'' Reeves says. ``He's not so much in the bubble of NBA stardom that he can't see people are suffering.''

Farrow has made four trips to Africa, including one to Darfur last year.

``I was transformed,'' she said. ``I was a witness.''

Witness.

Funny, that's the word Nike uses in its marketing of LeBron, who, by the way, is the National Basketball Association's ambassador in the league's business forays into the world's most-populous nation.

``You have to decide what it is you want to use your celebrity for,'' says former U.S. Senator and basketball hall of famer Bill Bradley. ``It's conceivable that some people will choose to never do it, in which case it's unfortunate. There are bigger lives that can be led.''

Newble is a role player in the star-driven NBA, a league defined by one-name wonders. You know who they are: LeBron, Dwyane, Carmelo, Kobe, Yao and Shaq.

Enjoy, Admire

If you doubt that Newble can make a difference then you should speak with Kimberly Canady, whom I met last year when the NBA and UNICEF announced an AIDS awareness campaign.

Dikembe Mutombo was there, too. He put his arms around Canady, who learned that she was HIV-positive at the age of 11. Mutombo said he cared. He said he wanted to help.

``When people see that somebody from the NBA wants to make a difference, it puts a spark in other people's heads to try and do more,'' Canady, 20, told me last week. ``One person can influence a whole bunch of people.''

True -- even a role player.

So the next time you're enjoying the Cavaliers, by all means marvel at LeBron's athleticism. Just don't forget to cheer for Ira Newble, too.

LeBron changes games. Newble aims to change hearts, minds and lives.

You decide which player is most deserving of your admiration.

[spreedom]

LeBron, for all I've seen/heard/read, is a businessman first, basketball player second, human being third.

Two out of three ain't bad.

[mcsluggo]

then its confirmed.

Lebron IS the next Jordan!

[MavsX]

i like lebron. A lot.