ATLANTA — Bernice King is one of four children born to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. She earned her doctorate from Emory University in her hometown of Atlanta and is currently CEO of the King Center in the city.

Dr. King recently sat with NBA.com for a discussion about her late father, the King holiday, what it means and also reflected on how his dream resonates in today’s society.

The following 1-on-1 conversation has been condensed and edited.

NBA.com: I just wonder on this day, and really any day, how should we celebrate your father’s legacy?

Dr. King: Well, I think the best way to celebrate is to really study and understand him and try to emulate some of the things because nobody’s going to be Dr. King. There are things that he left, or the teachings that he left for us, that we can all embrace and ensure that it’s part of our daily living, and that’s what’s most important. The wonderful celebrations and commemorations are great, but if we’re not internalizing these messages and trying to live them out, then we do a disservice to his life and now his legacy.

The NBA has a tradition of playing games on MLK Day. What are your thoughts about that?

I think it’s good. I think it’s important that those platforms are used in very creative ways. You have to think to whom much is given, much is required. (The NBA) may have been created for entertainment, for sports, (but) all of us are going to have to play a role in trying to correct some things and trying to cultivate some things and move some things forward. I like what they’re doing, but I would just push a little bit more.

Looking at society today, what gives you hope about his dream?

The fact that there are people working on it, especially young people. When you see people like my niece and other young people taking up the banner and the torch and determined to make their mark in terms of moving the needle, that gives me hope. And as a Christian, I’m always going to be hopeful because I know personally what Jesus did for me, but also I know what God has done in the world through generations of people who’ve overcome tremendous odds. So, that gives me hope every day.

Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics said he wanted to start a Black Wall Street in Boston. Your father was big on the economic disparity in America. What are your thoughts on the wage gap today?

In his 1967 book, “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community,” my father talked about a guaranteed annual income that we needed to look in, so people could have livable wages. He felt that that was the direct way to wipe out poverty in our nation. And when people feel good about themselves and they have dignity in their livelihood, they become even greater contributors to society as a whole.

We have a lot of work to do with these disparities, but when you look at the disparity from the Black community’s perspective, there’s a great wealth disparity. We have to address the systemic issues that keep the Black community and even the brown and perhaps Indigenous communities from being able to do well economically and build economic strength across generations.

So that was my dad’s work. You’re right. I mean, he was right there when he was assassinated. That’s why he went to Memphis: to deal with the working conditions of the Black sanitation workers but also the pay.

What are your thoughts on the discourse in America today, both politically and socially?

Heart-burning, disappointing and sometimes, frankly, disgusting. And yet I know, even though some people may not know this, we all have the ability to talk at a higher level. We can have differences of opinion and views, but we don’t have to try to demolish and destroy each other around it.

So I see my role and function as to try to keep elevating the conversation, not sacrificing the truth, but making sure that it’s spoken in a way that I’m not trying to destroy who you are because that’s not my intention. My intention is to bring us all up, not just to call us out. Call us up and in.

I hope more people will join me in my effort to bring people up. Let’s talk about it, but let’s talk about it like grown folks. I don’t have to shred you to pieces to point out the fault and the wrong. I don’t have to make you feel less than a human. I don’t have to do that.

Has social media helped or hurt in that regard?

Unfortunately, the way it’s being utilized, it’s hurt. It’s helped expose things, which I applaud. Thank God for social media. George Floyd and so many others, all kinds of situations we would not know about as a nation and world. So, good in that sense. But now, it’s like it doesn’t matter what our young people are exposed to. We are doing them a disservice because they may be intellectually smart, but one thing we will never be able to overcome is their moral development. And so, we have to be careful.

If it were us as adults getting exposed to some of the stuff, that’s different because we know how to process more appropriately, even though we handle things immaturely quite often through social media.

With regards to social justice, surely you’ve seen NBA players embrace that. What are your thoughts about that?

I think it’s powerful. I do think sometimes you have to go a little bit further. Martin King, what distinguished him is he was not loyal to a person. He was loyal to truth, justice, loyal to God. And if it meant that he had to take a position or a stance and sacrifice for the greater good, he would take the hit and he would lose whatever he had to lose because he was not wedded and loyal to stuff.

What was your reaction when you heard the WNBA team in Atlanta was going to be called the “Dream,” coined after your father’s “I Have a Dream” speech?

I thought that was brilliant. I think that’s good because it keeps that notion before the people of this city. So yeah, I like it and I’m hoping we can work even closer together.

I wonder, what would your father say about the world and society today if he were alive?

My father was prophetic, and he always said, ‘This is what we need to do. If we don’t, this can happen.’ We need to have our moral and ethical keep pace with our technological and scientific advancement. Because if we (don’t) do something about that chasm and that gap, then we would destroy ourselves in the misuse of our own instruments. We’ve got to come to a moral and a spiritual foundation in this world because if not, I’m very concerned.

Now my sources, well-placed sources, by the way, say you played basketball back in the day.

Who told you that? (Laughs) I did. Back then, I guess you’d call it pickup ball, backyard ball. I was somewhat of a tomboy. I used to play with my brother and their friends, and I would always get chosen because I was just good. One of the things that gave me an advantage is I’m left-handed. I dribbled in between my legs and all of that. I had a left hook that was a mean left hook. So, I loved it. When I got to high school, I played on the junior varsity and the varsity team. I played guard, not point guard, and I played a small four. I loved it. I loved it.

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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.

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