Tennis legend Billie Jean King receives first of its kind star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES -- The 2,807th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was dedicated Monday, and it's the first of its kind.

The great Billie Jean King continues to break barriers, this time as the first female athlete to be honored with a sports entertainment star.

"It makes me feel excited, but it makes me feel more excited about getting more women athletes here on the Walk of Fame," said King.

King is hailed as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, winning 39 grand slam titles and revolutionizing the sport. Her win in the historic "Battle of the Sexes" match became a cultural milestone and helped in her fight for equal prize money for women in tennis.

"Even today, you continue to fight for people who know they don't have the same type of platform that you have, and you rally around them," said Earvin "Magic" Johnson during the ceremony.

But the Long Beach native's accomplishments extend well outside the lines of any tennis court. King's been an outspoken activist for women's race, LGBTQ+ rights and racial equality.

She's the first woman athlete to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, is a New York Times best-selling author and is the founder of the Women's Tennis Association.

"This star today is so much greater and brighter than your sport because like her, your star is about love and allyship and advocacy and enthusiasm and partnership and your fierce devoted belief in equality for all," said actor Jamie Lee Curtis.

As part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Angel City FC and the L.A. Sparks, King's leadership continues on the business side of sports, advocating for inclusivity in sports leadership.

"I am very happy I've lived this long to see the women sports movement at it's tipping point now, you know, at every level," King said. "And I thank Title IX in 1972 for that to help make it happen, but I also thank all the investors who really invest in women's sports now, and it's a business for them it's not just a charity, which is huge."