OAKLAND, Calif. — LeBron James wanted to be with his family, to hug his wife and three kids back in Ohio.
Visibly shaken by an event he couldn't control, Cleveland's star struggled Wednesday to focus on his seventh straight NBA Finals or the Golden State Warriors.
For the game's best player, basketball was overshadowed by racism.
On the eve of the Cavaliers and Warriors meeting for the third straight year, police said James' mansion in Los Angeles was vandalized in the morning with a racial slur spray painted onto the front gate.
Nearly a year since he sat at the same podium inside Oracle Arena and addressed Muhammad Ali's impact as an activist following the heavyweight champion's death, James discussed the daily challenges of being black in the U.