OAKLAND, Calif: To a degree, LeBron James is willing to cross the same line Muhammad Ali crossed.
On Saturday at Oracle Arena, the Cavaliers star and four-time league Most Valuable Player shied away from any personal comparison to Ali, the iconic former heavyweight champion who passed away Friday at age 74.
No high-profile athlete has shown the courage to go to jail because of his opposition to war as Ali did to avoid serving in Vietnam. And in the decades since Ali took his stand, few whose fame has transcended sports have been willing to speak out on social or racial issues for fear of costing themselves millions in endorsements.
Tiger Woods’ father may have predicted his golfing son would impact the world like Gandhi or Buddha, but Woods proved averse to criticizing much beyond less-than-perfect greens and photographers whose cameras clicked during his backswing.
Michael Jordan may have followed in Ali’s footsteps, but he inspired by how he played, not by what he said.
But James believes Ali’s words and how they affected the world can’t be forced.
“I just think it’s in you. If it’s in you, then it will be brought to light. If it’s not, then it won’t,” James said before Sunday’s Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
James said even though he “beat the odds” of growing up in the inner city and “being a statistic that was supposed to go the other way,” he knows he didn’t face the racism, discrimination and daily battles that Ali and others of his time endured.
“Yes, I’ve had some adverse moments in my life and, yes, I’ve had to deal with a lot of things as a professional, and I’ve spoken up on a lot of issues that other athletes may not speak upon, but I feel it’s my duty to carry on the legacy of the guys who did it before me,” James said.
The Cavs’ J.R. Smith said Ali’s willingness to speak out was one of the things he admired most.
“Anything that was on his mind he said it no matter what the consequences were,” Smith said. “He pioneered that. It’s extremely tough to go out there and speak against certain things nowadays. For him to be able to do that 50 years ago is incredible.”
Golden State Warriors forward Andre Iguodala doesn’t hesitate to comment on issues outside basketball. But he understands how athletes who have come from nothing might be unwilling to risk the financial ramifications of revealing their feelings on controversial subjects.
“Society says you follow these guidelines and you walk the straight line, you’ll be taken care of financially,” Iguodala said. “Money kind of rules everything and you have to shoot for riches and fame in order to be happy in life. You’re a product of your environment and that’s just the environment a lot of us live in, coming from nothing and you get a chance to get out.”
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said Ali was a personal favorite of his grandfather’s, so Ali was the first athlete Lue idolized.
Lue, who played 11 years in the NBA, took a stab at reciting his favorite Ali quote that Lue used as inspiration as an underrated player who wasn’t expected to achieve much. Ali’s actual words were: “Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
“Muhammad Ali was a big reason why I was able to achieve so much in my life,” Lue said. “Knowing what he’s done for this country and fighting for not just black rights, but human rights, and making every kid feel they had a chance to be something special. I was honored and had the privilege to meet him a few times and he meant the world to me.”
Hall of famer Jerry West, an executive board member of the Warriors since 2011, is an avid boxing fan who witnessed some of Ali’s fights, including his 1971 loss to Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden. West and Ali were teammates at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, where they both won gold, Ali at age 18.
“Being around him, you almost felt a God-like presence. He had it. He had it,” West said.
But of late, those who possess that aura don’t use it for social change.
Even as James watched the “Thrilla in Manila” Friday night at the Cavs’ hotel with a friend and role model from Ali’s hometown of Louisville, Ky., James knows Ali left the world with much more than his boxing legacy.
“That was only 20 percent of what made him as great as he was,” James said.
He didn’t say it, but as James moves forward in life, Ali’s percentage may give him another goal for which to shoot.
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.