An assist on the court leads to two points, maybe three, but an assist off the court means so much more. Here are some of the notable community efforts made by NBA teams and players from the Western Conference.
• The Dallas Mavericks’ Jason Terry holds Hoops Showdown, a game whose proceeds support the United Negro College Fund. He also sponsors basketball camps and built a computer lab for at-risk youth.
• The Lakers’ Brian Grant is one of the NBA’s most active philanthropists, and his foundation offers profound support to underprivileged children and the elderly.
• The Tracy McGrady Foundation donated more than $350,000 dollars last year to various children’s programs and he has hosted children from Make-A-Wish and more.
• Houston Rockets forward Juwan Howard and his foundation have been involved in collecting and distributing over 21,000 winter clothing items, refurbishing basketball courts and supporting tutoring in the projects where he grew up in Chicago. He hs also adopted a school where he has given students incentives to read more books.
• Mavericks guard Jerry Stackhouse lost two sisters to diabetes and both of his parents have the disease, so he has become very involved in supporting and promoting diabetes prevention programs.
• Dallas’ Michael Finley inspired fans to give to a hunger program—and along with some teammates he matched their donations. The result: more than $100,000, which is good for 20 truckloads of food for the hungry. He gives away a block of tickets to youth programs for every game, holds an annual golf tournament to raise money for the Make-A-Wish foundation, runs a free week-long basketball clinic and is involved in Read to Achieve, a Black History Month art contest and a number of events involving disadvantaged children both in Dallas and in his hometown of Chicago.
• Mavericks big man Dirk Nowitzki has spent time with children from the Make-A-Wish Foundation, promotes a recycling program, regularly visits hospitals and has committed to answering every piece of fan mail he receives.
• The Denver Nuggets’ Marcus Camby’s Cambyland Youth Foundation partners with schools and organizations to improve education in underserved communities. At Thanksgiving he personally delivered dinners to 50 families. At Christmas, he picked up 15 disadvantaged children in an SUV limo, gave each a signed jersey and $100 to buy presents for their families.
• Blazers guard Nick Van Exel took it upon himself to provide a Christmas experience for 35 underprivileged children and four large families. Through a church he got wish lists from the children, bought the things they wanted and personally delivered the items before Christmas. He then hosted them all at a surprise Christmas party. At Thanksgiving, he and his Warriors teammates each bought 150 turkeys and Van Exel personally delivered them to 10 area shelters. He also gives away a block of tickets to every home game.
• Warriors guard Jason Richardson gives away a block of tickets for every home game. J-Rich also donated over 200 Thanksgiving turkeys, co-hosted a reading camp at a local school, and is a spokesperson for an educational program that stresses attendance, academics and attitude.
• Rockets center Yao Ming heard about a boy whose dying wish was to meet him, so he immediately rushed to the hospital for a special visit. In China last summer he raised over $300,000 for SARS research with a telethon. He arranged for teammates and friends to appear by tape. Teammate Steve Francis and Reebok each gave $10,000.
• L.A. Clippers forward Elton Brand hosts the free, fun Elton Brand Day for his hometown fans in New York and supports afterschool education, youth sports and programs for single parents.
• Karl Malone surprised a group of children from a local youth program with a trip to see his racing team, followed by a party he personally hosted. He also arranged for 25 children to tour a trendy clothing supplier—then surprised them with a party and $1,000 each to shop. He and the Sparks’ Lisa Leslie helped to paint a Boys and Girls Club, he donated 1,000 pairs of shoes to victims of wildfires, he frequently visits schools and he and his agent paid tens of thousands of dollars for first aid equipment to be put into police cars.
• Lakers forward Lamar Odom buys tickets, a bus ride, T-shirts, hot dogs and sodas for 40 children at every Heat home game. He’s also involved in hospital visits, turkey giveaways, the team’s Family Festival and the Read to Achieve program.
• A member of the board at the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Memphis Zoo, Memphis’ Shane Battier is active in Read to Achieve and the Grizzlies tickets for kids program.
• Grizzlies guard Jason Williams provides tickets to Special Olympics athletes for every home game, and was honorary chairman of West Tennessee’s biggest fundraiser for the Special Olympics.
• Minnesota forward Kevin Garnett has launched an ambitious program called 4XL to encourage minority students to attend business school.
• T-Wolves forward Mark Madsen visited Iraq to meet with and entertain U.S. troops.
• Phoenix’s Amaré Stoudemire won more than $35,000 on Wheel of Fortune for the Boys & Girls Club. He also hosted 200 children for Thanksgiving.
• When he signed his contract, the Suns’ Shawn Marion donated a million dollars to various charities through the local United Way. He also funded a reading room at a local Boys and Girls Club.
• The Portland Trail Blazers' Shareef Abdur-Rahim runs a foundation whose staff, friends and families spent this past Thanksgiving delivering meals to more than 2,000 people in need. He hosts a rally each August donating backpacks and other supplies to school kids, a toy drive in December, and a scholarship program at his old high school. He is also working on building Reef House, where elementary school children can learn about computers, life and more.
• Blazers center Theo Ratliff recently gave $200,000 to his hometown of Demopolis, AL to build an activity center targeted to serve at risk children. He also promotes literacy through Read to Achieve, a special basketball camp, and an essay contest.
• Lakers center Vlade Divac’s charity has delivered clothing, toys, and healthcare to children displaced by the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. He has worked to place children in permanent homes—even adopting one such girl to be his own daughter.
• Breast cancer took the life of Kings guard Bobby Jackson’s mother, and he has been involved in several events for the cause—even getting the Kings and Timberwolves to wear pink t-shirts during their warm-ups before a game in April to raise awareness.
• Sacramento’s Brad Miller took children from the Big Brothers Big Sisters program on a $200 shopping spree. He also donated his $35,000 in Wheel of Fortune winnings to the program.
• Kings forward Peja Stojakovic hosted a clothing drive that collected more than 8,000 items for children in his native Serbia-Montenegro.
• San Antonio’s Tim Duncan has rewarded over 3,000 students who demonstrate integrity, respect, dependability, fairness, caring and civic responsibility with Spurs tickets or other prizes, and he has raised close to a million dollars for cancer charities.
• The Seattle SuperSonics’ Ray Allen’s foundation has donated more than $400,000 to sports and community programs, and he volunteers with numerous charities.
• Sonics forward Rashard Lewis donated $125,000 to build a movie theater at the new Ronald McDonald House in Seattle, and bought 75 season tickets for children.
• In kicking off his Kirilenko’s Kids charity for neglected children in Russia, Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko organized a clothing drive that generated 45 large boxes of goods.
