LeBron James plans to expand More Than a Vote

Andrew Ross Sorkin came up with a high-profile lineup of panelists for this year’s DealBook Online Summit that was broadcast over the last two days. I’ll try to offer some thoughts on the discussions that captured my attention.

Seeing as I just wrote about the value of social activism in the sports world, I wanted to call attention to the session with NBA superstar LeBron James on his More Than a Vote initiative to combat voter suppression. Frankly, the conversation didn’t go too far down into the weeds. In terms of news, James and Sherilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund announced that effort would be extended to the crucial January runoffs for two Senate seats in Georgia.

James also talked multiple times about the importance of his “team” when it came to putting the program in motion. He’s presumably referring to his business partner Maverick Carter and their cadre of advisers, including ex-political strategist Adam Mendelsohn. How many athletes do the legwork ahead of time to cultivate a braintrust capable of turning that kind of an idea into reality? Aspiring activists in the sports world should take note.