Can LeBron James tip Ohio toward Hillary Clinton?
 
The state has long been the must-win swing state in presidential elections. No one has won the White House without also winning Ohio since John Kennedy in 1960. Clinton visited Akron this past week and as of this morning her campaign announced she’ll be returning to the state on Tuesday.
 
Which brings us back to James, the reigning Finals MVP of the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers and possibly the most beloved person in Ohio (with OSU football coach Urban Meyer maybe a close second). On Sunday evening, James announced his endorsement of Clinton in an op-ed published on Business Insider.
 
James’ endorsement follows years in which athletes have taken increasingly high-profile political stances. In 2014, James and other NBA players donned shirts with the words “I Can’t Breathe” during pre-game warmups, a reference to the death of Eric Garner in a confrontation with New York police on Staten Island. This summer, James and fellow NBA stars enjoined pro athletes to become more politically involved during the ESPY awards. As the NBA season tips off, will players sit out the national anthem to call attention to the Black Lives Matter movement, as several NFL players have?
 
This level of activism is a departure. As Michael Jordan, widely regarded as both the best basketball player of all time and the most brand savvy, once quipped, “Republicans buy sneakers too.”
 
Jordan was James’ basketball idol. But it’s another athlete he’s looked to as his role model in civic life: Muhammad Ali.
 
No one more exemplified the intersection of politics and sports. The boxer refused to enter the armed services in opposition to the Vietnam War. “My conscience won’t let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people,” he proclaimed at the time. “And shoot them for what? They never called me nigger, they never lynched me, they didn’t put no dogs on me.”
 
Ali took the consequences: he faced arrest and the revocation of his titles and boxing license. He lost four of his prime years as a fighter in legal battles to regain his ability to compete.
 
In the end, however, Ali became an icon who transcended sports, as was clear during the many tributes after his death in June.
 
As James remarked at the ESPY’s, “Tonight we’re honoring Muhammad Ali… But to do his legacy any justice, let’s use this moment as a call to action to all professional athletes to educate ourselves, explore these issues, speak up (and) use our influence.”
 
Will James influence Ohio voters? Hard to say. But his endorsement marks another step by a star athlete who isn’t going to stay on the political sidelines.