LeBron James recently won his fourth NBA championship. And because of that as well as being one of the leaders in the Black Lives Matter movement, TIME Magazine recently named James as the Athlete of the Year for 2020. James spoke to Sean Gregory of TIME and shared his thoughts on the future of activism.
“It would never, ever go back to us just playing our respective sports,” James said. “It will never be that way for as long as I’m around. And hopefully I’ve inspired enough athletes that even when I’m gone, that legacy will carry on.” James also started a group called More Than a Vote to help combat voter suppression and mobilize voters. He also worked with the NBA and league owners to encourage everyone to vote.
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LeBron James (@KingJames) is TIME’s 2020 Athlete of the Year #TIMEPOY https://t.co/hmFnqCHRPd pic.twitter.com/SskYijwu2E
— TIME (@TIME) December 10, 2020
“LeBron was a calming voice, but one that I didn’t view as oppositional. I viewed it as, ‘All right, everyone, we have certain celebrity and reach that we bring to the table, team owners obviously have enormous resources and their own network of associations,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said. “Working together, we can accomplish even more.’” James’ push led to 95% of the NBA players registering to vote for the 2020 election. In 2016, only 22% of the players voted in the presidential election.
“I just wanted to reassure that they were giving us their word,” James said, “and I was going to give them our word that we would continue to play on with the season, as long as we had action going on off the floor at the same time.” The presidential election might be over, but Georgia is having a special runoff election for both Senate races on Jan. 5. James’ More Than a Vote group is making sure everyone in Georgia votes in two very important races.
James is entering his 18th NBA season, which begins on Dec. 22. He recently signed a two-year $85 million contract extension with the Lakers, meaning he will be with the team through the 2022-23 season. James has put together a Hall of Fame career, selected to the All-Star team 16 times and winning the NBA MVP award four times.
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LeBron James (L) and his family onstage at The 2023 ESPYS held at Dolby Theatre on July 12, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)
