The thing is, LeBron, we’ve come to expect more of you. You’re obviously an intelligent person, a compassionate person and a socially conscious person. At this point in your life and career, it’s part of your brand. But to present that face to an American audience while essentially admitting that all you care about when it comes to the rest of the world is cashing those big checks — well, let’s just say it doesn’t look very good on you.

Maybe you don’t know it, but your news conference on Monday night played right into the hands of Chinese government propaganda and undermined the values you espouse in other facets of your life and public persona.

Surely you are aware of this, LeBron, but in the United States it’s considered a good thing to exercise your freedom of expression in support of a just cause because you’ve done that yourself on numerous occasions.

Not supporting other Americans who exercise that same freedom because it might personally inconvenience you for a few days overseas, LeBron, is without question the most disgraceful moment of your career.