Should the Worldwide Leader Stick to Sports? – Slate Magazine

As athletes have made more money frankly, and they are less beholden to any one sponsor, they have felt more freedom to speak their minds just like anyone else. I think LeBron James, frankly, has had a big role in that. Because he had been speaking more on social and political issues when he was with the Miami Heat, people thought, Oh, if LeBron can do it, we can follow his lead. And then you have the journalists, with the wave of more opinions in media. Those are three big pillars really coming together to build the building you are talking about.