The great Muhammad Ali died four years ago, but in this current moment in time, his legacy feels more important than ever. Ali met a lot of resistance for standing up for what he believed in but in many ways, he paved the path for future athletes to use their platforms to speak out as we see no. Corey Parson joined Robin Lundberg to discuss Ali's lasting impact on the sports world and beyond. 

Read for the Full Video Transcript

Robin Lundberg: It's been four years since the death of Muhammad Ali. And to help me reflect on the great one's legendary legacy, I'm joined now by our Corey Parson. Corey, obviously, Muhammad Ali has left a lasting impact. And I would say one that is particularly poignant in these times. 

Corey Parson: When you talk about Muhammad Ali, you talk about the greatest of all time, the gold. That's where the phrase comes from. Tom Brady's held it, Michael Jordan, LeBron James. But it originally goes back to the great Muhammad Ali. Now, one thing about Muhammad Ali, when he was an active professional athlete, a lot of people didn't like him because he took a tough stance on social justice issues that people didn't want to talk about. And you've seen a line that comes into today's athletes. 

You look at Colin Cabinet, you look at LeBron James and time they get blowback for the same thing. But when you see ways working, it was Muhammad Ali. And particularly in a time like weeks like this, you see guys like Trevor Lawrence and Joe Burrow stepping up. A lot of that harkens back currently to guys like LeBron and Colin Kaepernick. But it all started with the greatest of all time, Muhammad Ali. 

Robin Lundberg: Yeah, I mean, he got brushback for changing his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali. Obviously, he was willing to stand up for what he believes in regarding the war, including, you know, the risk of incarceration and everything that took place there. So he paved the way for so many of these athletes today who are praised for speaking their mind and exacting.

Neil Leifer/SI

Corey Parson:  And you saw what he got later in his career. And he became more of an advocate and a public figure. He started speaking about unity and bringing people together. And I think that message is the reason why he became the greatest of all time.