MIAMI — Dwyane Wade and LeBron James were only a few miles away from Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26, participating in the NBA All-Star game on the night the unarmed black teenager wearing a hooded sweatshirt was shot to death by a neighborhood crime-watch volunteer.

They never knew the teenager, but on Friday they decided it was time to speak out – as did many others around the NBA.

Wade posted a photo of himself from a previous photo shoot wearing a hooded shirt, otherwise known as a hoodie, to his Twitter and Facebook pages on Friday morning.

A couple hours later, James posted another photo – this one of 13 Heat players, all wearing team-logo hoodies, their heads bowed, their hands stuffed into their pockets. The photo was taken at the team hotel, and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called it “a powerful statement.”

“As a father, this hits home,” said Wade, who has 10- and 4-year-old sons.

Among the hashtags James linked to the team photo: “WeWantJustice.” The National Basketball Players Association issued a statement saying it was saddened and horrified by the killing, demanded an arrest and accused the police department in Sanford, Fla. – where Martin was shot – of “racial bias.”

“It really is a tragic story,” Spoelstra said. “And the more you learn about it, the more confused you get.”