Jason Miller/Getty Images
LeBron James, athlete and advocate.
- LeBron James recently tweeted in support of a bill that would allow college athletes to get paid for endorsements, part of his larger effort to decrease NCAA restrictions on paying players and agents.
- James has advocated for player rights throughout his career - from opening doors for players to switch teams easily, to structuring NBA contracts for greater flexibility and higher salaries.
- The three-time NBA champion also created several media endeavours that center player voices and allow them to advocate for themselves, instead of through the mouths of media pundits.
- $4
As athletes break bones and work endlessly for a chance to play, team executives trade "loyal" players freely as a $4, or $4 while college athletes can't get paid.
Now, the country's $4 is continuing to fight for more player leverage over organizations.
And he helped spark the era of "player empowerment" in the first place.
Read more: $4
"The idea of athlete autonomy - of a player having more control and power over his or her own career, of not just being an employee of an owner who is not the one out running and dunking - has caught on in the public consciousness in a way it had failed to before," Will Leitch, noted sports journalist and the founder of Deadspin, wrote for $4. "James' move [to Miami] was the instigating act."
Here are all the ways James has advocated for player and labor rights during his career: