Poor LeBron James: He, his Lakers and indeed the entire NBA had a “difficult week,” the star says, because the Rockets GM irresponsibly tweeted out support for … freedom in Hong Kong. The things a multimillionaire athlete has to put up with.

And the “difficult week” whine was James’ effort to walk back his remarks Monday night in Los Angeles, where he said of Daryl Morey’s pro-freedom tweet, “I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand, and he spoke.” The danger being: “So many people could have been harmed, not only financially, but physically, emotionally, spiritually.”

If James really thinks that he and other stars in China were at risk of physical harm simply because that country’s rulers were so upset by a tweet, then the league never should have sent them over.

Heck, if Morey were more “educated” about the “situation,” his tweet (which he later deleted under pressure) would’ve been even more outraged.

After all, Beijing isn’t just intent on taking away the rights of Hong Kongers. It has a million Muslims in re-education camps; it’s deep into a campaign to crush independent Christian churches; it’s bent on instituting universal high-tech Big Brother surveillance; it harvests organs from thousands of prisoners of conscience …

It’s an evil government — as its hysterical overreaction to Morey’s tweet proves.

“Yes, we do all have freedom of speech,” James said, while suggesting that Morey had used his without “thinking about others.” But no one in China has that freedom — except in Hong Kong, for now.

James might also learn from fellow hoopster Enes Kanter, now a Celtic, who tweeted about the Turkish government’s response to his criticism:

“-Haven’t seen or talked to my family 5 years -Jailed my dad -My siblings can’t find jobs -Revoked my passport -International arrest warrant -My family can’t leave the country -Got Death Threats everyday -Got attacked, harassed -Tried to kidnap me in Indonesia FREEDOM IS NOT FREE.”

’Nuff said.