LeBron James will reach Hong Kong by the time he’s done digging this hole.

Shortly after the world’s most famous basketball player seemingly sided with a communist country infamous for its human rights violations — but friendly to James’ bank account — the Lakers superstar failed at his attempt at damage control following his criticism of Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, who ignited the NBA-China firestorm with a tweet supporting protests in Hong Kong.

“Let me clear up the confusion. I do not believe there was any consideration for the consequences and ramifications of [Morey’s] tweet. I’m not discussing the substance. Others can talk About that,” James, whose Lakers were one of the teams in China last week, tweeted late Monday. “My team and this league just went through a difficult week. I think people need to understand what a tweet or statement can do to others. And I believe nobody stopped and considered what would happen. Could have waited a week to send it.”

James’ hypocrisy was glaring given he has been near the forefront of NBA players’ social activism push. He fought back when Fox News’ Laura Ingraham told him and other players to “shut up and dribble.” Now he was calling on Morey to be silent.

“Injustice Anywhere Is A Threat To Justice Everywhere- Our Lives Begin To End The Day We Become Silent About Things That Matter,” James tweeted last year.

Enes Kanter quickly went after James, reminding the King what type of hardships millions of people face in countries such as China and Kanter’s native Turkey. The Celtics big man and political activist, formerly with the Knicks, wrote on Twitter that he hasn’t seen or spoken to his family in five years, that his father has been jailed, that his passport has been revoked, that he has an international arrest warrant, that he receives daily death threats and that a kidnapping of him was attempted, among other charges.

Kanter closed by writing, “Freedom is not Free.”

Neither are Nikes in China.