?You?re not going to reduce me to an entertainer,? Bill Russell once said. ?I?m a man who stands up for what I believe in and you?re going to respect me for it.?

I was raised with that belief, and I admire athletes of the past, like Russell, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, John Carlos, Tommie Smith, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Each of these men used his position as a platform to speak out on social issues and bring attention to topics they thought important. While I have no plans to run for elected office in the future, I think it?s important for me to follow in the footsteps of people I admire and seek opportunities to educate fellow citizens on issues important to me.

Basketball is a passion as well as my profession, but it is not everything. I?m just as passionate about off-court interests such as poetry writing, community activism, and motivational speaking.

There's a saying: ?I speak my mind because biting my tongue would make my pride bleed.?