LeBron James Discusses Trayvon Martin's Death, Start of Activism for Social Justice

NBA superstar LeBron James reflected on the upcoming 10-year anniversary of Trayvon Martin's death Friday, saying it sparked his desire to "give voices to people that don't have voices."

Martin, a 17-year-old Black high school student, was shot and killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman on Feb. 26, 2012 in Sanford, Florida.

Zimmerman followed Martin, who was unarmed as he walked home from a local convenience store, while on the phone with police reporting the teenager as a suspicion person.

A Florida jury found Zimmerman, who said he shot Martin in self-defense after the two had a physical altercation, not guilty of all charges in July 2013.

James, who was a member of the Miami Heat at the time, and his teammates took a photo wearing hoodies, a clothing item worn by Martin on the night of his death:

Now with the Los Angeles Lakers, the four-time NBA MVP told ESPN's Dave McMenamin in an interview released Friday that picture was an important moment in his growth as a social activist:

"That was our moment of solidarity. Not only for Trayvon Martin and not only for his family, but for every Black kid in America and in the world who wears a hoodie."

"You're not a criminal because you put a hood over the top of your head. It's a uniform for us. That's what we do. That's what we wear. We don't have the luxury of wearing suits or having button-downs. We don't have the means to get sweaters and things of that nature. Our uniform is T-shirts, hoodies and shorts. That's our uniform growing up as a Black kids in the inner city."

"That was our moment to be able to let Trayvon Martin and his family know, but the whole entire Black community and also white America know, that we ain't for that bulls--t."

James added it took him a while to find his voice outside of basketball—"Until you know who you are, it's hard to speak for other people."—but also noted that the rise of social media played a role in his activism.

"Timing is everything. I was growing at the same time that the world was seeing these things that had always been happening, but because of some smart motherf--kers in tech, they were able to put these phones and these cameras and these direct things that were happening right now to the eyes of people. And I was growing at that same time and I had that platform. So it was, it was just [in sync]."

The 37-year-old Ohio native has gone on to become one of the most prominent Black voices when it comes to social justice and activism. He's won two NAACP Image Awards, the Jackie Robinson Sports Award in 2017 and the President's Award in 2021, for his work.

James told McMenamin those efforts will continue as he plans to "speak up for my people no matter if [society] likes it or not:"

"It's never going to stop. It's never going to stop, but that don't mean we stop. 'Can't stop, won't stop' is what Diddy says. At the end of the day, we know the turmoil and everything that's going on. They're going to look at Black people how they've always viewed us: Smile in our face and [act like] it's fine."

"But at the end of the day, we can't stop. We can't stop speaking up for things that are unjust. We can't stop speaking up about things that we feel are wrong—or things that are right. And calling out people that literally are simply just bad people."

The perennial All-Star forward and wife Savannah have a 17-year-old son, Bronny, and two other children, son Bryce (14) and daughter Zhuri (seven).

James, who's also played two stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers in addition to his time in Miami and L.A., is currently in the midst of his 19th NBA season.