Matches between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors always hold special meaning, but Monday's tilt on Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday meant a little more to LeBron James.
James has been outspoken in opposition of United States president Donald Trump in the past, and continued that on Monday.
He also took time to honour King and the efforts he took to help fight racism and oppression.
"The state of racism will never die, but what we cannot do is allow it to conquer us as people," James said Monday, via ESPN. "We can't allow it to divide us... The guy in control has given people and racism, and negative racism, an opportunity to be out and outspoken without fear.
"And that's the fearful thing for us because it's with you, and it's around every day, but he's allowed people to come out and just feel confident about doing negative things.
"We can't allow that to stop us from continuing to be together and preach the right word of living and loving and laughing and things of that nature. Because would we want to live anywhere else? I don't think so. We love this place."
James was full of praise for King, saying: "You always hear people saying, 'risking their life'. He actually gave up his life for the betterment of all of us to be able to live in a free world and for us to be able to have a voice, for us to go out and be free no matter your skin colour, no matter who you are, no matter the height and size and the weight or whatever the case may be, wherever you are, he had a vision and he took a bullet for all of us.
"Literally. In the rawest form that you could say that. He literally took a bullet for us. And for us to stand here even though we're trying to be divided right now by somebody, today is a great day for people to realise how America was built and how we all have to stand united in order to be at one."
Photo Getty Images. Caption: LeBron James