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LeBron hopes to make Martin Luther King Jr. proud

Maddie Meyer / Getty Images Sport / Getty

LeBron James spoke Monday about late civil rights icon, Martin Luther King Jr.

"I hope I could make him proud or made him proud," James told ESPN's Dave McMenamin on the 50th celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. "Just taking what he was able to give to us and give us that type of empowerment, give us that type of strength to be able to go out and talk about things that really matter.

"Be able to live for something that's more than you as an individual. So hopefully I would be one of those guys that made him proud. Hopefully, I'm making him proud still with him looking down on us."

James, who is vocal when it comes to social issues, remembers King as someone who made the ultimate sacrifice in the pursuit of equality for everyone.

"You always hear people saying, 'risking their life.' He actually gave up his life for the betterment of all of us to be able to live in a free world and for us to be able to have a voice, for us to go out and be free no matter your skin color, no matter who you are, no matter the height and size and the weight or whatever the case may be, wherever you are," James said.

"He had a vision and he took a bullet for all of us. Literally. In the rawest form that you could say that. He literally took a bullet for us. And for us to stand here even though we're trying to be divided right now by somebody, today is a great day for people to realize how America was built and how we all have to stand united in order to be at one."

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