The shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin turned Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James from being one of the biggest basketball talents in the world to becoming an advocate of peace and equality.

Speaking with CNN's Jon Lemon, James recalled the time he heard about Martin's shooting. Being that he has kids of his own, the devastating news flipped a switch inside of him. He gave a similar hypothetical situation: what if his own boys left and didn't return home?

“[The fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin] hit a switch for me. From that point on, I knew that my voice and my platform had to be used for more than just sports.”

And James is doing just that. A quick look at his Instagram account, one will notice that it's not full of basketball posts anymore. And even when playing, he takes time to wear protest and statement apparel to voice out a message.

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It has proven to be effective. When you're the most popular basketball player in the world, everything you do is magnified. James knows this fact.

Instead of using the attention he gets to boost his ego or even his business, he uses it to address issues that have hounded America since time immemorial. Issues such as police brutality, racism, violence, among others.

The good part is, James has just begun. We should expect to hear his voice frequently, and much louder in the next few months and years to come.