Kevin Sethre, staff writer

The NBA celebrated MLK day last week, honoring him in several ways. 

The NBA started the day by tweeting about the many important things that King achieved during his life, including leading the Montgomery Bus Boycott, serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and getting Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by organizing the 54 mile march from Selma to Montgomery. 

They also hosted a roundtable discussion about King’s legacy that featured former NBA player Caron Butler, National Civil Rights Museum President Terri Freeman, E Pluribus Unum Fund Founder Mitch Landrieu and Wayne Embry, the league’s first African-American general manager and team president.

During the warmups for the nine games that were played that day, players wore shirts that said “Now is the time to make justice a reality for all” on the front and “Honor King” on the back.

In their 108-97 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Atlanta Hawks wore black jerseys that simply said “MLK” on the front to honor King. 

The NBA has become a great example of using sports as a platform to advocate for social justice and hopefully, other leagues can follow.