I really don’t know a damn thing about basketball. But I for sure know that LeBron James is up there among the best known and respected people … on the planet. The guy has Muhammed Ali-like cred with the population of this pale blue dot.

So it’s sad to see him, of all people, fumble and bungle a response the NBA’s “issue” with China.

If you’re not following this, a week ago an executive with the Houston Rockets tweeted support of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy demonstrators. Personally, I found that startling enough. Sports executives are notoriously reluctant to say anything remotely controversial politics-wise. (The NFL as usual being the worst of the bunch.)

Anyway, as soon as that tweet went out the shit-storm descended. The executive in question, clearly feeling (intense) pressure from the league and owners and everybody making a merchandising buck off the NBA, quickly rescinded the tweet and backpedaled into deep mumble-mouth.

The reason of course is money. Gobs and untold gobs of money. There’s a body of deep-thinkers who believe the NBA, as popular as it is, has maxed out the American market, and it’s current popularity in China has the league’s marketing gurus thinking they have a juicy angle at a market … three times the size of the USA. And that folks, is a consumer base corporate America treats like the sacred host of God Himself, something you never screw with … ever … in any way.

The trouble is of course that the NBA, a league composed of mostly black players and supported by a huge black fan base, has been commendably open in its defiance of the racist stupidity of Donald Trump, with players — including LeBron — and prominent coaches fairly regularly barking back at Trump for his persistent vulgarities.

Point being, there’s no real downside to that. Trump’s a fool and the league has earned poins for daring to say so. It set us up to expect better from the NBA.

China though, with literally billions in the offing, is a whole different matter. LeBron to this point in his storied career has done everything and more you could ask of a mega-superstar. He’s been generous with his philanthropic work and, despite railroading out a few coaches and teammates he didn’t care for, he’s been a model performer, an unequivocal leader.

The point here is that no one — and I repeat, no one in modern pro sports — has more cultural capital than LeBron James. The demonstrators in Hong Kong aren’t out there complaining about trash collection or pay raises for pubic employees. They’re putting their lives on the line for the quintessential American notion of freedom. It really is as basic as that.

China, it’s glitzy towers and sprawling factories pumping out instantly disposable crap for Walmart (and Target and Best Buy and … ) withstanding, is a crude, brutish autocratic disaster and should be persistently reminded of that fact by everyone doing business with them. (Needless to say, Trump hasn’t made any effort on behalf of the Hong Kong demonstraors.)

What LeBron should have said is, “I too support the pro-democracy demonstrators of Hong Kong. The NBA, through which I have become a wealthy man, would not have risen to its status under a repressive government like China’s. Free men and women, especially men and women of influence, have an absolute obligation to speak out in support of democracy wherever we see it under attack, which it is in Hong Kong today.”

The bulk of mainland China’s population lives behind tightly restricted media inputs. Think FoxNews for 1.4 billion people. State TV portrays the Hong Kong demonstrators as “terrorists” and could quickly concoct an explanation for why the NBA has suddenly become a menace.

But here’s the thing. These state-sealed media bubbles are getting more and more porous. People within them who know and care have ways of finding out the truth, and in turn admiring and respecting allies for their full freedom.

The NBA’s mega-Chinese payday may take a near-term hit. But its standing with every democratic society and every pro-democracy fan and non-fan in the world will only increase by being brave enough to risk that payday by doing and saying what’s right.