The "clarification" is very weak.
Disappointing take from Lebron James, a guy who is probably very ignorant about this subject and easily cooed by billion dollar Chinese shoe contracts. It's one of those issues where, maybe if you don't have an informed opinion you should just say "Sorry, I don't have an informed opinion about this to comment," and take the heat for genuinely not having an informed opinion.
There's nothing wrong with just being ignorant about this. Two weeks ago 98% of NBA fans in the United States were ignorant about it, 99% of players, the majority of coaches and GMs. Now, I get everybody is supposed to watch VOX's explainers and get informed over night, but I don't have a problem with an athlete not having a well formed opinion on something and then choosing not to share it -- even if Lebron is known to advocate for human and civil rights in other aspects of his life, I'll give him a pass on knowing the ins-and-outs of Chinese brutality in Hong Kong, the propaganda campaign that China has waged, and the stakes of commenting about it. But if someone asks you about it, just say you're ignorant and you don't know. Sure, you'll take heat from some people who expect you to know at this point, being the face of basketball and an advocate for human rights, but it's better than criticizing someone else for "not knowing the ramifications of something" when you yourself as making a more ignorant statement with that criticism.
