Covid-19 asks about safe voting in the upcoming US presidential election. Four years ago, the decline in black participation was due to efforts to restrict voting rights as well as online disinformation campaigns and apathy.
The "More Than A Vote" campaign was supported by James and a number of other black athletes, including NFL stars Odell Beckham Jr. and Patrick Mahomes and Olympic sprinter Allyson Felix.
James' Lakers will face the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the NBA playoffs in Orlando on Tuesday, before which he urged black voters to make their voices heard.
"A lot of people in our community, in the black community ... number one, don't want to vote because they don't believe their vote counts," James told reporters.
"Two, I don't know where to go and vote. Third, they're so suppressed that they were like, 'I'm not going anyway because it doesn't even matter. Because nobody is going. cares about us, no one cares about our opinions or cares about who we would like to have in power.
"And we're just trying to change that narrative and let them know it's important. We want and need you.
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'Give them strength'
The coalition of black athletes and artists formed the campaign ahead of the November US presidential election and following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor earlier this year.
In addition to encouraging voting within the black community, the campaign aims to help convert unused sports arenas into voting centers, as well as promote awareness of understaffed voting facilities, voting machines broken lines and long lines to vote, according to an open letter published in The Undefeated.
"So that I can have this platform where I can create something like 'More Than A Vote', just giving them the tool, giving them the knowledge, giving them the strength not just to go out and vote. , but also to vote. know their voting rights, "added James.
READ: Sports teams want to turn their arenas into voting centers
READ: What you need to know for the NBA playoffs
James, whose Lakers topped the Western Conference standings, is chasing his fourth NBA title and the first since arriving in Los Angeles in 2018.
He is 89 points from 7,000 points in the playoffs heading into Tuesday's game, having already become the first player to surpass 6,000.
This week also saw the reveal of the uniform James will wear in "Space Jam: A New Legacy," the sequel to the 1996 film starring Michael Jordan which will be released in July 2021.
The light blue uniform, which was posted by the LeBron James Family Foundation on social media, features yellow and red circles and the team name "Tune Squad" - the same team Jordan dressed for. his version of the film over two decades ago. .