Muhammad Ali blazed path for many NBA players

4:57 PM ET

No athletes today benefit more from Muhammad Ali’s legacy than basketball players.

Take a look at the ESPN World Fame 100.

Twenty of the people on the list are NBA players, the most representation of any league or sport. Eighteen of those 20 are African-American, including LeBron James at No. 2, Kevin Durant at No. 6 and Kobe Bryant at No. 11. This would not be possible without Ali.

Editor’s PicksAli ‘a pioneer’ for black athletes, LeBron says

Cavaliers star LeBron James said Muhammad Ali “stood for something” and is a big reason African-American athletes “can do what we do in the sports world.”

Ali helped the world become accustomed to (if not always comfortable with) African-Americans as the face of a sport and a product pitchman.

His commercials for d-CON roach traps in the late 1970s were among the first national ads to feature an African-American athlete promoting non-sports products. Roach traps weren’t glamorous, but it’s indicative of the options available for black athletes at the time. Those Ali ads, on the heels of O.J. Simpson’s Hertz commercials, helped pave the way for Julius Erving promoting ChapStick, Magic Johnson pitching 7-Up, then the onslaught of Michael Jordan marketing.

Ali also pushed the envelope of individuality, stretched it so far that even a team …

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