News & Observer | newsobserver.com | 2008 NCAA Men's Bracket

BEIJING — It was interesting watching USA forward LeBron James, who had just tickled a USOC press conference crowd with a little shoulder shake and shimmy, talk about what being American means to him on Friday.

James had to answer for America, too, when one non-American reporter asked if he would do more to help the U.S. win the popularity contest, the one it's currently losing, with the rest of the world. You'll hear James sidestep that one in the audio below.

But talking politics at event meant to promote peace is more of a conundrum for high-profile Olympians like James or USA teammate Kobe Bryant, with millions in endorsement dollars at stake and a new market like China to conquer and employers like Nike to appease.

To their credit, both Bryant and James have done so recently. Bryant addresses the topic in a PSA. And James, despite initially pleading ignorance on the topic, later spoke out to ESPN.

The U.S. Olympic delegation smartly chose to send forth an incredibly powerful symbol protesting the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan when the athletes chose Lopez Lomong, a favorite to win gold in the 1500 meters in track and field and a former refugee from Sudan, to carry the U.S. flag into the Bird's Nest on Friday evening.

Lomong was a Lost Boy of Sudan and spent years without his family in a refugee camp before immigrating to the United States. He earned his citizenship in 2007.

AP Photo