Although there have been appeals to U.S. athletes to address the involvement of the Chinese government in the crisis in Darfur, several players say they won’t respond. The Darfur region, located in western Sudan, has been engulfed in a devastating conflict for the last four years. Government troops and militia units called janjaweed have been battling rebels opposed to a government they say persecutes the non-Arab population. The government-backed janjaweed have targeted civilians. China is the major trading partner and supplier of weapons to the Sudanese government. Some players have filmed public-service announcements appealing for an end to the slaughter. “We are coming to play basketball,” LeBron James said. “We want to try and keep basketball and politics separate.” Teammate Dwyane Wade agrees. “It’s not about us making a stand or taking a position. It’s about us playing our position,” he said. “We are going into uncharted waters. It’s not our home. We are going to go over there and respect China. This is a business trip for us. We’ll let the politics take care of itself. That’s not for us to worry about. There might be some people that get into it, but that’s not my focus. I’m focusing on basketball.” That decision will be solely theirs to make, Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. There will be no muzzle ordered from above.
