LeBron James, Obama lead tributes to Ohio NFL icon Jim Brown

LOS ANGELES: NBA superstar and Ohio kid LeBron James led the tributes to NFL great Jim Brown on Friday, after the legendary Cleveland Browns running back and civil rights campaigner died at the age of 87.

“We lost a hero today,” James said in an Instagram post that also featured a video of four-time NBA champion James, then playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, bowing to Brown as he sat courtside at a game.

“Rest in Paradise to the legend Jim Brown,” James wrote. “I hope every Black athlete takes the time to educate themselves about this incredible man and what he did to change all of our lives.

“We all stand on your shoulders Jim Brown.”

Brown played for the Browns for all of an NFL career spanning 1957-65.

He led the NFL in rushing eight of those seasons and retired in July of 1966 with a then-record 12,312 career rushing yards.

Brown’s excellence on the field was what first made the young LeBron James an admirer, but now the Los Angeles Lakers star known for his work on social justice issues says Brown’s efforts during the turbulent civil rights movement was his real gift to today’s athletes.

“If you grew up in Northeast Ohio and were Black, Jim Brown was an icon,” James wrote. “As a kid who loved football, I really just thought of him as the greatest Cleveland Brown to ever play.

“Then I started my own journey as a professional athlete and realized what he did socially was his true greatness.

“When I choose to speak out, I always think about Jim Brown. I can only speak because Jim broke down those walls for me.”

NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of the African-American athletes who attended the 1967 Cleveland Summit organized by Brown in a show of support for Muhammad Ali’s refusal to serve in the Vietnam