LeBron James explains why he deleted tweet on police shooting of Ma'Khia Bryant

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James posted and later deleted a tweet on Wednesday about the fatal police shooting of Ma'Khia Bryant, a 16-year-old Black girl in Columbus, Ohio. In a series of tweets, James explained why he deleted the post.

The since-deleted tweet by James showed a photo of officer Nicholas Reardon, who is white, with an accompanying caption, "YOU'RE NEXT #ACCOUNTABILITY," along with an hourglass emoji, on Wednesday.

Body camera footage released by the Columbus Division of Police showed the officer, identified Wednesday as Reardon, getting out of his car at a house where police had been dispatched after someone had called 911 saying they were being physically threatened.

As the officer walks toward a group of people on the driveway, Bryant can be seen swinging a knife wildly at another girl or woman, who falls backward. The officer shouts several times to get down. Bryant then charges at another girl or woman, who is pinned against a car.

From a few feet away, with people on either side of him, the officer fires four shots, and Bryant slumps to the ground. The knife lies on the sidewalk next to her.

Bryant was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said. Police did not say if anyone else was injured.

MORE | More body cam released in Ma'Khia Bryant shooting

Just before Derek Chauvin's guilty verdict was announced, a 16-year-old girl Ma'khia Bryant was killed by a Columbus police officer Nicholas Reardon Tuesday afternoon.

James' hometown of Akron, Ohio, is about 125 miles northeast from Columbus, the state capital.

The Bryant shooting occurred Tuesday after a jury in Minneapolis found former police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of two counts of murder and one count of manslaughter for the May 2020 killing of George Floyd outside of a convenience store.

James responded to the Chauvin verdict with a single word: "Accountability."

James' teammate, forward Anthony Davis, said the Lakers had yet to discuss the outcome of the Chauvin trial as a team, but he offered his personal thoughts on the outcome.

"I think a lot of people in the world are happy with the verdict and just being able to give that family peace, [and] a peace of mind," Davis said Wednesday. "I think that it was a first step for justice.

"I think it was a good day, just for the world, to be able to get justice, because you see so many times where it doesn't happen."

MORE | Jury finds Derek Chauvin guilty of murder, manslaughter in George Floyd's death

It took barely more than a day of deliberations, then just minutes for the verdicts to be read before Chauvin was handcuffed and taken to prison.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.