John Amaechi features in episode 24 of the Sky Sports' My Icon series
Thursday 26 October 2017 13:33, UK
Role models from diverse backgrounds can help break down barriers in the United Kingdom, says John Amaechi.
Now a psychologist of international repute, Amaechi played in the NBA for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic and the Utah Jazz.
"It's important that people see rounded role models," Amaechi says in one of the most compelling episodes of Sky Sports' My Icon series.
"It's not because black people need black role models. It's because young white boys need to see young black girls.
"They need to see how other people are, not necessarily so everybody likes everybody but so that there is this common understanding that Britishness is not this monochromatic thing that it might have been in the 1950s. Now it is something wider."
Amaechi talks about his journey in the latest instalment of My Icon, which premieres on Monday at 7am on Sky Sports Mix and is available On Demand. The episode is repeated on Monday at 1.00pm, 6.00pm and 10.00pm.
Coinciding with Black History Month, Sky Sports' #MyIcon campaign brings you 31 exclusive interviews with top BAME sports personalities across the month of October. For more information click here.
