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Brooklyn Nets star James Harden isn’t just producing on the court. The nine-time NBA All-Star, through his “Impact 13 Foundation,” donated approximately 5,000 essential supplies to children in Haiti last week. Performance apparel such as Adidas backpacks, socks, shoes, water bottles and basketballs as well as personal hygiene products such as Art of Sport deodorant, body wash, lotion, Gopuff tampons, condoms and postpartum undergarments were distributed to more than 300 kids.
David Robinson: It’s one thing just to run your mouth, but a whole other thing to say I’m committed to this change. Seeing somebody like Colin Kaepernick put everything on the line for that, to me, that’s an important statement. That’s something that’s a very strong move. Other athletes have put a lot of their money and energy behind [specific issues] – LeBron James and education. There’s a lot of men and women who are out there putting their lives on the line for other people. I saw Naomi Osaka talk about giving her winnings in her next tournament to Haiti [following August’s devastating earthquake]. So, people are committing themselves to what’s happening in the world, and I think that that’s fantastic to use the platform that way.
While Ontario has traditionally been Canada's basketball powerhouse, producing the vast majority of the country's NBA and NCAA basketball talent, there has quietly been a group of French-Canadians with ties to Haiti and West Africa that is putting the province on the basketball map. "It's very possible that Quebec produces five NBA players in the next five years," Wesley Brown, a Canadian basketball scout at the Monday Morning Scouting Report, said. "Dort, Quincy [Gurrier], Keeshawn [Barthélémy] and a few other younger guys all have potential NBA talent."
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Last week, after reports surfaced that President Trump had demanded to know at a White House meeting why the U.S. should accept immigrants from “shithole” countries like Haiti and some nations in Africa, West pulled out his copy of “A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies,” which details how third-world countries became impoverished through colonization. Underneath the excerpt of which he posted a picture to Twitter was the caption, “How they became ‘Shit Holes.’” Golden State forward Andre Iguodala quickly retweeted it with a single word of support: “Preach.”
Warriors forward David West recently spoke out over Trump reportedly using disparaging remarks about Haiti and various African nations in a meeting about immigration policy. How did we get to this point? “Oh man, are we really going to ask this at shootaround?” Kerr said with a smile. Kerr asked, “Do you have two hours?” before noting “there’s a book to be written” titled “How We Got Here.” And, Kerr added, “there’s a lot of chapters.”
As the fallout from President Donald Trump's alleged comments describing African countries and Haiti as "shithole countries" continues, one member of the Spurs organization is not surprised by the remarks. Assistant coach Ime Udoka, a Nigerian-American, became aware of the comments on Friday. "I wasn't any more offended than what he says about people right here in America," Udoka told the Express-News before the Spurs played the Denver Nuggets on Saturday. "If that were a one-time thing, it would be something. But it's pretty frequent."
Multiple outlets have cited sources in reporting that Trump referred to Haiti and some African nations as "shithole countries" during a meeting with Republican and Democratic lawmakers this week. In a tweet on Friday morning, Trump denied using the specific term. Later in the day, Senator Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), who was present at the meeting, said the president used the word.
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Labissiere plans to venture back to Haiti soon, to set up basketball camps, connect with philanthropists, and potentially start an academy. The prospect of returning for the first time in years fills him with excitement: spending time with his sister, embracing the friends he's kept in touch with, reconciling the Haiti of his memories with the unrecognizably altered one that he left. "He has a strong affection in his heart for trying to help kids [in Haiti]," says his agent, Travis King, of Independent Sports & Entertainment. "To give them the opportunity he had to get off the island and excel in the States in high school and college."
As this video explains, Portland Trail Blazers center Mason Plumlee has joined up with Moment to raise funds for Project Medishare, an organization working to improve quality of life in Haiti. Moment's process is pretty simple: for a donation of $125 the athlete sponsoring the campaign will record a short personal video for you.
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