LeBron James on Breonna Taylor case: “We want justice, no matter how long it takes”

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James continued to speak out Thursday night about the Breonna Taylor case after he helped his team win Game 4 of the 2020 Western Conference Finals. TNT’s Allie LaForce asked James if he’d channelled the emotion of the last 24 hours, following a Kentucky grand jury’s decision not to indict police officers over Taylor’s killing, during the game.

James was among the prominent sports and entertainment figures to voice outrage soon after the jury’s decision was announced on Wednesday. The grand jury in Louisville indicted only one of the three defendants in the Taylor case, and on charges not directly related to her death. Former police detective Brett Hankison faces three felony counts of first-degree wanton endangerment for firing rounds that entered the apartment of Taylor’s neighbor.  

James said he was happy about winning the game, but the case had weighed “heavy” on both himself and his teammates’ minds, and particularly on Louisville native Rajon Rondo. 

“As heavy as it’s been on us, it’s even heavier on him, because that’s his hometown,” James said.

“We lost a beautiful woman in Breonna, that has no say so in what’s going on right now, and we want justice, no matter how long it takes, even though it’s been so many days, so many hours, so many minutes for her family, for her community,” he said.

“I have a daughter of mine at home, and a wife, and my mom, and so many Black women in my life to think about. If they weren’t here the next day or if they were gunned down, it would be something I would never be able to forgive myself, or forgive who did it,” James said, who has been a staunch supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement.  

James called the case a “tragedy,” said he and his teammates’ hearts were with the Taylor family and the city of Louisville, and ended by urging people to “spread love and not hate, because that’s what it all boils down to.”