How LeBron James Forced The NBA Into A Social Justice Reckoning

When news of Trayvon Martin's death shocked the country, protests broke out all over South Florida. LeBron James was a member of the Miami Heat and was inspired by the young people demonstrating. He wanted to do the same, and his choice has bent the league toward social justice.

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Dave: You know what it comes down to is that the best player arguably in league history LeBron James decided that going to say something. I know that's the most wonderful thing said in this interview.

Emma: one of two. one of two. We you know.

Dave: I’ll throw one of three because I’m a Kareem guy.

Emma: I was about to say I could see that dave but

Dave: Yeah, there's a lot of biases there. but with LeBron I mean he was playing in Miami when Trayvon Martin is killed in 2012 in Sanford Florida. so that that you know hit the team very hard especially when Zimmerman was not getting a Trayvon’s murderer George Zimmerman was not being arrested. remember there was that period where they weren't even arresting him? and so you know this is a wild number but you know over 50 high schools in South Florida staged walkouts. another story that gets memory-holed about that time. one high school spelled out Trayvon’s name on the football field with their bodies. but the Miami heat knew about this because it was in all the local news we're just not remembering it historically. and so LeBron said we have to do something about this so they all posed with hoodies in 2012 the entire team. because hoodies being the symbol of what got Trayvon killed. and that was really the first viral sports politics photo of the Twitter age. and I think that taught a lesson to LeBron that by using social media and his own avenues he could fulfill his dream at when he was a teenager of wanting to be a political athlete like Muhammad Ali. so LeBron in turn bends the league towards being more for lack of a better term progressive and more open to what its players have to say. because he also provides this force field for any other player that wants to be political because how can you come up come down on the last player on the bench if you're not going to come down on LeBron James.

Emma: It really is quite remarkable because he was said to be you know the next generational talent from age 15 on right? and was caught not coddled but I mean had this rarefied experience that only he could understand. it's basically an audience or a group of one. and that's got to be very disorienting and I would imagine you start kind of smelling your own farts to some degree. and so that that you know of course that's going to affect you but he still had the perspective to put political activism at the forefront. and I remember being frustrated that you know by some of his political speech but on the whole it really is it's pretty impressive to keep that you know mooring.

Dave: The LeBron story is a fascinating one because and this is what makes athletes over the last 100 years black athletes in particular such a dangerous and volatile element in the workings of US society. and you know the daily functions of US inequality. because a lot of them like LeBron come from extremely poor backgrounds Michael Jordan did not come from Michael Jordan came from a stable middle-class home. and I think that's one of the reasons that affected his desire to not be because they were never part of the aspirations of his house. you know collective action. but here's LeBron you know single mom. very poor. until you know people started to realize that he was going to be this talent. and then you know the money I no question was put in their pockets. but you know until he was 15 like knowing what hunger felt like and you know that's something that really never left him. and it's why he's done the educational work. it's why he's done the voting work. it's why he's spoken out against police violence. and his willingness to put it on the line I’ll say it again it bent a league in a direction that it was not otherwise in.