For example, the last thing I would gather form LeBron saying "the questions are retarded" is that he was attacking people with mental disabilities. I don't even know how anyone could get there.
I am not sure what is hard to understand about it. Even taking context into account, it is incredibly offensive, because he was using the word that is generally used to describe mentally challenged people as an insult.
I am a big fan of looking at context with these things. And the context is [dang]ing here.
I even will go with the argument that you can use the N word in a positive context, and it shouldn't be offensive. However, if it is used as an insult, I don't think there is any grey area there.
So, when Lebron used the word "retarded" as an insult, it was absolutely offensive, not because of the word, but because of the context. Just like when you used the words "women" or "chicks" to insult people, then that became offensive.
I personally don't think the word "chick" is necessarily an offensive word, and certainly "women" isn't, but when you use it to attack other people, then it is absolutely offensive.
Words evolve in meaning, some people may take retarded to be offensive, and some may not.
I'm sure most people here don't take the word "dumb" in the same sense as they do retarded when it's almost the same thing. A remark that stemmed from a term for a handicap.
It really is interesting, the way language evolves. At one point, "idiot", "moron", and "imbecile" were the three levels of mental retardation, based upon one's IQ. Strangely, the three terms are now used as analogous with "stupid", while "retarded" has a more specialized meaning attached.
Linguistics aside, though, I do think you have to look at the present day meaning of words when you use them. For instance, if a word wasn't offensive 30 years ago but is today, it behooves one to try to pick new language.