A post on Facebook falsely claims that National Basketball Association (NBA) star LeBron James donated $3 million (about P174.7 million) to victims of “the typhoon and earthquake” in the Philippines.
Published on Oct. 3, 5:06 p.m., the post said:
“LeBron James donated $3 million for all those affected by the typhoon and earthquake in the Philippines.”
The post did not specify if the supposed donation was intended for the recent typhoons that ravaged the country and the Sept. 30 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Cebu, or other previous natural calamities.
The viral post also carried the caption:
“Salute To this Man!”
The claim is fabricated. James has made no such announcement, and no credible news outlet has reported any donation from the NBA superstar to the Philippines.
James is known for his philanthropy in the United States, particularly through his LeBron James Family Foundation, but there is no record of him extending aid to the country.
The LeBron James Family Foundation “invests its time, resources and passion into creating generational change for the kids and families of James’ hometown in Akron, Ohio” by focusing on “educational and co-curricular educational initiatives.”
The only known donation to the Philippines was from the NBA and National Basketball Players Association, when Super Typhoon Haiyan (locally known as “Yolanda”) devastated the country in 2013. The America-based associations donated $250,000 each to the United Nations Children’s Fund, an international agency to “protect children’s rights,” and World Vision, a Christian-based global charity, to aid Filipino victims of Typhoon Yolanda.
The post was published by FB page Basketball Breakdown (created on May 3, 2020), which has garnered more than 707,000 likes, 55,200 comments and 58,000 shares, as of writing.
Editor’s note: This fact check was produced with the help of a journalism student of the University of Santo Tomas as part of their internship at VERA Files.
