Lebron James has used his appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated to make a political statement.

The recently named Sportsperson of the Year posed for the magazine wearing a safety pin on his lapel, which has been used to show solidarity with minorities, women, and immigrants in the wake of Donald Trump's win last month.

The NBA great was a vocal supporter of Hillary Clinton and campaigned for her in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio just days before the election.

James also opted to not stay at a Trump Hotel during a recent trip with his team, calling his decision a personal preference.

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Statement: Lebron James wore a safety pin on the cover of Sports Illustrated (above), which have been used to show solidarity with minorities and immigrants in the wake of Trump's win

Friend: James, 31, was a vocal supporter of Hillary Clinton and campaigned for her in Cleveland, Ohio just days before the election (above on November 6)

James accepted his Sportsperson of the Year honor on Monday night during a ceremony in Brooklyn.

It was the second time he has been awarded the honor, a feat that has only been matched by Tiger Woods.

During his speech he paid tribute to some of the great athletes of the past - and the stand they took for racial justice.

'This award is for the great Muhammad Ali, for Bill Russell, for Jim Brown, for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,' he said, adding that they were the four dominant athletes of the 1960s.

'They sacrificed everything that could've happened to them. [They] could have been stripped of everything that they had accomplished to that point', James said referring to all the times the athletes stood up to discrimination and advocated for African-Americans and racial justice.

'But their calling and their reasoning for doing what they had to do was for a night like tonight.

'That in 2016 in Brooklyn, New York, we all can sit up here as African-Americans, white Americans... that we all can sit in one room and just say, "wow, this is an unbelievable night in not only sports, but in life."

'It's never about the individual, it's always about the people behind him.'

Honor: He accepted the SI Sportsperson of the Year award last night in Brooklyn, and paid tribute to Muhammad Ali and others for their advocacy (James above with Jay Z)

Solidarity: Olivia Wilde (left) and Patrick Stewart (right) are just two of the stars who have also been seen wearing safety pins

In the days since the election, people have begun placing a single pin on their shirts to convey a message of support - of safety, and protection - to minorities, women, immigrants and others who may feel threatened by Trump's win.

The safety pin social media movement gained prominence in Britain as a sign of solidarity with immigrant and minority populations facing a reported surge in hate crimes after the Brexit vote in June.

Since the election, the phenomenon has started catching on in the United States, with celebrities including actress Debra Messing, Patrick Stewart, Olivia Wilde as well as ordinary people posting images of their safety pins on social media.