Chris Paul Thunder
Photo: Sue Ogrocki/AP

Chris Paul has talked about the great influence of John Lewis in the civil rights movement. Lewis, 80, passed away on July 17, the same day another member of the Freedom Riders, who worked alongside Martin Luther King, C.T. Vivian also passed away.

The Oklahoma City Thunder leader paid his homage to both, noting that they need to keep the focus on what’s important.

“Today is a sad day in that we lost two of the most powerful activists that we’ve ever had, C.T. Vivian and John Lewis. The impact that they had on America I think is unbelievable,” Paul said.

“I think a lot of times people look at us athletes as heroes and what we can do as far as dunking a basketball or throwing a touchdown, but the things that they did as human beings … I don’t think we do enough learning and teaching about,” the star of the Oklahoma City Thunder said. “I think that’s more important than any other stuff that’s going on down here,” Paul added, per NBA.com.

The players including Paul, who is the president of NBPA, apparently want to keep the focus on the Black Lives Matter protests and the fight against discrimination and social injustice in the same way that people like John Lewis did in the past.