Billie Jean King to receive the Muhammad Ali Legacy Award at the 2021 Sports Illustrated Awards

Tennis legend Billie Jean King has been chosen as the recipient of the prestigious Muhammad Ali Legacy award at this year's edition of the Sports Illustrated awards. The award will be presented on 7 December 2021 at 8.00 PM EST on SI.com.

The award was created in 2018, originally as the Sportsman Legacy award but in 2015, it was renamed to the Muhammad Ali Legacy Award.

Named after the legendary boxer who graced several of Sports Illustrated's covers, the award will "celebrate individuals whose dedication to the ideals of sportsmanship has spanned decades and whose career in athletics has directly or indirectly impacted the world."

"@BillieJeanKing has spent her life fighting for equality," tweeted the Sports Illustrated handle. That's why she's Sports Illustrated's 2021 Muhammad Ali Legacy Award recipient."

Billie Jean King, on her part, said that she was very honored to be chosen as the recipient of the award.

"He (Muhammad Ali) really cared about people," she told SI.com. "And so, this is really an honor."

Speaking about how Muhammad Ali impacted her path and her legacy, Billie Jean reminisced about how this was something the two of them always talked about when they ran into each other.

"Everyone's gotta do their part every single day," she said. "You never know how you are going to touch another person's life or how they are going to touch yours. So pay attention."

King also went on to talk about the historic "Battle of the Sexes" match against Bobby Riggs in 1973, and how for her it was not just about tennis but also about social change. On the current ramifications of that moment, the 78-year-old said:

"I was hoping it would have long lasting impact. I think, anything that I wanted to do I wanted the change to last."

Past winners of the award include John Cena (2018) and Colin Kaepernick (2017), and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (2016).

Billie Jean King's never-ending activism

Billie Jean King (R) has been the inspiration for new tennis players for the past 5 decades

Billie Jean King is an activist on several fronts. Instead of limiting herself to the battle for gender equality and and closing the pay gap between male and female athletes, she is also involved in environmental and LGBTQ causes.

King founded the Women's Tennis Association in the same year she battled against Bobby Riggs. Since then, several female athletes, including former captain of the U.S. soccer team Julie Foudy, have called Billie Jean King their inspiration.

"In women's sports for so long, you were told to shut up and just be grateful," Joulie Foudy told Sports Illustrated. "And then we stopped shutting up, in large part because Billie's like, 'No, it's on you. You make the change. You as players demand better.' … She really was the catalyst."

In addition to all of this, Billie Jean King was also instrumental in the creation of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) in 2019. The Green Sports Alliance also recognizes her as a "true Green-sports pioneer" for starting the USTA greening movement.

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