Sam Cunningham showed Southern college football coaches that racial discrimination wasn't just wrong, it could also cost them wins. Texas Western went to the NCAA Championship game in 1966 and showed Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp that a team with five African-American starters could dismantle the all-white Wildcats.
In Boston, Bill Russell became an influential figure in a city struggling with race relations.
The fight against discrimination was not one King could fight alone. He had help, directly or indirectly, from some of the greatest legends in sports.
