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To honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., the NBA enlisted the help of Dwyane Wade, a former player. The two delivered an inspiring TV spot that hopes to inspire young people to follow and live out MLK’s legacy.
The spot, titled “Imagine” is voiced by Dwyane Wade and is made up of footage of himself intercut with videos of Martin Luther King giving speeches and walking in alongide nonviolent protestors in the Civil Rights Movement marches.
“Imagine changing the world,” Dwyane says. “By appealing to the hearts and minds of your nieghbors.” The footage of King features him in marches, reciting parts of his “American Dream” speech. By the closing moment of the spot, kids are seen looking at the footage of Martin Luther King and the marches, taking in his words.
Throughout his career, Dwyane Wade won three NBA championships, was an NBA-All-Star 13 times, and more. He played in the Miami Heats for the majority of his career.
To celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the NBA will have all players wear custom warm up shirts for the games scheduled from January 13th to the 17th. The shirt has a quote from King’s “I have a dream” speech printed in the front, while the back has King’s signature in the back. Teams from the NBA will honor King through the week in a variety of ways, including seminars, activities with different youth groups and events that highlight the role that athletes play in social activism and in their communities.