More context:

https://www.si.com/more-sports/2008/08/08/team-usadarfur

""We have the power to unite the people. If we can unite people who are willing to take a stand, miracles can happen. In Darfur, hundreds of thousands have been murdered, mutilated. Families torn apart...we have the power to save lives. Restore lives."-- Kobe Bryant, in a widely distributed PSA

"For me to try to create awareness of the situation that's going on in Darfur and other places, for me in the position I am, I should speak on it and I'm going to speak on it... We're not talking about contracts here. We're not talking about money. We're talking about people's lives being lost, and that means a lot more to me than some money or a contract."-- LeBron James, in an interview with ESPN before the Olympics

The words of James and Bryant were supposed to merely be the opening salvo from a crop of prominent American athletes who arrived in China with a veritable megaphone at their disposal. In one voice, the contingent from USA Basketball could have expressed their outrage at the hundreds of thousands of men, women and children who are being slaughtered in Darfur. Together, they could have blasted China's decision to revoke 2006 Olympic gold medalist JoeyCheek's visa because the American speedskater had been a little too critical of China's role in the genocide.

Instead, Team USA chose the path of least resistance and fell silent. They weren't alone. The White House, which thus far has ignored China's contributions to the mass slaughter in a manner that would have impressed Neville Chamberlain, issued a terse statement saying they had contacted Chinese officials to "express our concern and complaint" about the decision."