LeBron: Ali 'a pioneer' for African-Americans
The greatest athletes transcend their sport - they become icons for society.
The world lost one such icon in Muhammad Ali Friday night, and as scores of eulogies pour in, they serve as reminders that the fighter might be dead, but his fighting spirit lives on.
LeBron James paid his respects to Ali upon learning that the boxing legend was hospitalized on Friday.
"When I was a kid, I was amazed by what Ali did in the ring," LeBron told Chris Broussard of ESPN. "As I got older and started to read about him and watch things about him, I started to realize what he did in the ring was secondary to what he meant outside of the ring - just his influence, what he stood for.
"The reason why he's the GOAT is not because of what he did in the ring, which was unbelievable," James said.
"It's what he did outside of the ring, what he believed in, what he stood for, along with Jim Brown and Oscar Robertson, Lew Alcindor - obviously, who became Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) - Bill Russell, Jackie Robinson. Those guys stood for something. He's part of the reason why African-Americans today can do what we do in the sports world. We're free. They allow us to have access to anything we want. It's because of what they stood for, and Muhammad Ali was definitely the pioneer for that."
Ali passed away at the age of 74 after a 32-year battle with Parkinson's disease.