LeBron James reflects on decade since Trayvon Martin's death, giving 'voices to people that don't have voices'

LOS ANGELES — Trayvon Martin was just 17 — the same age LeBron James' oldest child, Bronny, is now — when he was shot and killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman 10 years ago this week.

James' response to Martin's death — including a famous tweet of the Miami Heat with their hoodies pulled up — was the start of a public commitment to social activism.

«Until you know who you are, it's hard to speak for other people. Or speak for anything. You got to be comfortable with yourself,» James told ESPN earlier this month when asked about Martin's death. «I think it's unfortunate that we, as a society sometimes, we want certain people to talk and we want certain people to [take on issues]. Like, 'Why aren't you speaking for [this community]?' I think for me, when I was younger, I wasn't in that position to do that.»

Martin, a Black, unarmed teenager who was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and on his way home in a gated community after purchasing candy and iced tea from a convenience store, was killed Feb. 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida — some 250 miles north of Miami, where James was playing his second season with the Heat.

As Martin's death started to garner national attention, James and his Heat teammates posed for a photo on March 23 that year in a hotel ballroom with their team-issued Miami hoodies pulled over their heads. The message that accompanied the image of the 13 players standing shoulder to shoulder was one of solidarity: #WeAreTrayvonMartin.

<a href=«https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreTrayvonMartin?src=hash&ref_src=» https: www.espn.com>#WeAreTrayvonMartin

<a href=«https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hoodies?src=hash&ref_src=» https: www.espn.com>#Hoodies <a