Steven Jackson has become one of the prominent figures calling for justice in the murder of George Floyd (opens in new tab). Most recently, you may have seen the viral video (opens in new tab) of this 42-year-old former NBA player smiling as he carries Floyd's 6-year-old daughter, Giana, on his shoulders and says, "Daddy changed the world."

Jackson has deep ties to Floyd and his family; in a conversation with ESPN's Mark Spears, Jackson explained that he met Floyd while living in Texas and called him "Twin."

"We have a homeboy named Terror, Terror, rest in peace. He's already passed away. He was from Port Arthur, but used to be in Houston. Houston is 45 minutes from my hometown. So I go back and forth to Houston," Jackson explains (opens in new tab). So he comes in and says, 'I'm bringing Floyd from my hometown next week. He used to play basketball, too, but you guys are very similar. Maybe we're the same father. And I said, 'Please do me a favor. So he brings Floyd over and I look at Floyd and the first thing we both said was, "Who's your daddy?" It was. We looked the same, and from that day on, we bonded. We were bonded tight."

Jackson has stood by Floyd's family since his friend was killed by a Minneapolis police officer and has promised to take care of Floyd's daughter. 'I'm going to walk her down the aisle,' he said at a press conference, turning to Jian's mother, Roxie Washington (opens in new tab). 'I am going to be there for her. I'm going to be there to wipe her tears."

The full conversation between Spears and Jackson about Floyd follows.