OAKLAND, Calif. — A day before the start of his seventh straight NBA Finals, LeBron James' mind was far from focused on basketball and the Golden State Warriors.
He wanted to hug his children and wife back home in Ohio and talk to his two boys directly about racism after a racial slur was spray painted on the front gate to his house in Los Angeles.
LA police were investigating Wednesday as James and the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers prepared for Thursday night's Game 1 at Golden State. Almost a year after James sat in this very place at Oracle Arena addressing the influence of Muhammad Ali following the heavyweight champion's death, James discussed the daily challenges of being black in the U.