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Anthony Davis talks love for sneakers and having a social justice impact that can ‘last forever’

Los Angeles Lakers superstar Anthony Davis won his first NBA championship less than two months ago and looks to repeat it as his team kicks off its next season on Tuesday night. But off the court Davis is also staying busy, launching an initiative with eBay ahead of the holidays called Santa Sneaker Drop, in which he’s looking to help sneaker lovers get some of the most exclusive kicks online using augmented reality (AR) technology instead of standing in long lines in the midst of the pandemic. Davis also aims to continue inspiring youth because he believes the next generation will continue to lead the movement toward social justice.“I keep touching the youth because the youth is what can help us create this change,” he told Yahoo News. “They’re so young; the world is theirs.”

Video transcript

- One more right here.

ANTHONY DAVIS: I love to give back to the community and also doing things with the social injustice, working with my team, and figuring out ways to try to create change, and do it in a special way, you know, where it's something that can last forever and not just a year or two, but something that can be passed down and create change and always pushing the needle and pushing the envelope when I'm, you know, long gone off this earth.

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I'm a big sneaker head myself and always got a love for sneakers. And you know, when I represented the [INAUDIBLE] thing, I just thought it was so dope, you know, especially through the times that we're living in right now with COVID, and you know, can't physically go out and get sneakers and everything online. And for eBay to do a AR sneaker drop, where you're able to get some of the dopest sneakers that you might not be able to get, you know, and get chance to win a pair, so I just thought it was a cool idea and it definitely drew my attention.

Listen, Santa, I got this. I already hit up eBay to do what they do best, help sneaker heads find hard to find sneakers.

The bubble, I don't want to say exposed guys, but I think it just helped guys, you know, get their message across. Because a lot of guys don't have big platforms, you know, like myself or, you know, Bron or guys like that. So yes, they might post something on social media or go out and say something, but they're not getting the exposure because they're not that big time of a player. So I think it just helped guys kind of get their message across.

Your voice is going to be heard, so you know you get a chance to hear that. Players right now are doing things for their communities, you know, socially injustice and just things like that, Black Lives Matter. And you don't really hear about it, one, because a lot of other sports going on, and two, they might not be that big time of a player where they can get their point across. But I think the bubble kind of helped guys get that point across and to the world know that this is for real. And we demand change, and it's not, you know, something that was going to stop in a bubble.

A lot of things that I do, giving away 40,000 pairs of shoes, Soles for Souls, and donated that to kids around the country, especially a lot of kids in my hometown, Chicago, and you know, where I'm playing right now in LA, to kind of help give the kids something to look forward to. A lot of kids love sneakers, and to be able to get a pair of sneakers that you always wanted is pretty dope. And keep touching the youth, because the youth is what actually can help us create this change, and you know, the world is theirs. So giving to the kids, you know, I love doing things with the youth and giving back to the youth.