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Athletes around the world took up the mantle.
The 23-year-old Manchester United forward Marcus
Rashford successfully lobbied the U.K. government
to provide $220 million in benefits to support fami-
lies in need over the next year. Lewis Hamilton, the
Formula 1 superstar and the sport’s only Black driver,
began kneeling before races wearing a Black lives
Matter shirt and helped launch an effort to create
opportunities for Black drivers and engineers in
motorsports.
Taken together, the demands and demonstra-
tions marked a new phase of player empowerment
and agency that has been more than a half-century
in the making. In 1969, Curt Flood of the St. Louis
Cardinals challenged the reserve clause, which could
bind players to teams for life. That led to free agency,
which gave athletes in team sports significantly more
control of their economic destiny. As their star power
grew, so did their appeal to marketers. And no ath-
lete bridged those worlds better than Michael Jordan,
whose lucrative deals with Nike, McDonald’s and
other major brands showed that transcendent sports
stars could be their own corporate behemoths—so
long, it was thought, as they steered clear of conten-
tious political or social issues.
For years, Jordan’s famous line—“Republicans buy
sneakers too”—has been an axiom for athletes who
want to capitalize on their celebrity. He had every
reason to think that way. Muhammad Ali sacrificed
the prime years of his career and became a pariah
for refusing to serve in a war he viewed as unjust.
Carlos and Smith received death threats after their
Black Power salute. In 2016, Colin Kaeper nick started
kneeling during the national anthem to call atten-
tion to police brutality; he hasn’t played in the NFL
since that season.
It was James, heir to Jordan on the court and in
the boardroom, who established a new paradigm,
in which commercial clout exists alongside politi-
cal principle. He remains one of the world’s top pitch-
men, endorsing Nike, AT&T, Walmart and other
major brands. And he has laid waste to the dated
notion that political and social engagement is some
sort of distraction for athletes. In 2020, James led the
NBA in assists, for the first time in his career, before
winning the NBA championship and his fourth Fi-
nals MVP award, at age 35. Athletes can now bring
their full humanity to their games, insisting that their
identities be recognized and rejecting the notion that
their athleticism is all that matters.
“When you have somebody of LeBron’s stature
setting the tone, it makes it that much easier for
Clockwise from
top left: F1’s Lewis
Hamilton kneels
before a race; Naomi
Osaka honors Black
victims of violence
at the U.S. Open;
Manchester United’s
Marcus Rashford
raises his fist to
call for justice; the
WNBA’s Sue Bird
urges fans to vote
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: BRYN LENNON—POOL/AP; AL BELLO—GETTY IMAGES; CLIVE BRUNSKILL—POOL/REUTERS; NED DISHMAN—NBAE/GETTY IMAGES
