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Tristan Thompson has a new job outside of the NBA -- the Cleveland Cavaliers player has been named the newest Global Ambassador for the Special Olympics!!! The 2016 NBA champion and Special Olympics International announced the news on Tuesday ... with Thompson saying he's "excited and honored" to partner with the sports organization that provides competitions for five million athletes (kids and adults) with disabilities.
Thompson will join a list of several NBA/WNBA players who are also Global Ambassadors for the Special Olympics ... including Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker and Elena Delle Donne of the Washington Mystics.
Gerald Bourguet: Devin Booker won the NBA Cares Community Assist award for the Devin Booker Starting Five, which donates $500,000 annually to 5 different youth-serving nonprofits in AZ. The NBA and Kaiser Permanente will donate $10,000 to Special Olympics Arizona pic.twitter.com/7jgd80mQzp
Devin Booker won the NBA Cares Community Assist award for the Devin Booker Starting Five, which donates $500,000 annually to 5 different youth-serving nonprofits in AZ. The NBA and Kaiser Permanente will donate $10,000 to Special Olympics Arizona pic.twitter.com/7jgd80mQzp
— Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) June 7, 2021
Duane Rankin: #Suns dentist Dr. John Badolato of Studio B Smiles has teamed with Devin Booker to support Special Olympics Arizona by offering up to $250K in free dental care. Every new patient who says “BOOK it” for appointment, Dr B. will donate dental care for local Special Olympic athletes
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“It’s an honor to receive the NBA Cares Community Assist Award,” said Lillard. “From a young age, my mom and dad taught me about the value of giving back and lifting up others. I’ve been involved with Special Olympics since high school and I’m proud to serve in my role as a Global Ambassador for the organization. Special Olympics is a deserving recipient of this donation as they continue to create a better world of acceptance and inclusion for all people."
"Coach Williams had us working with the Special Olympics and doing Christmas shopping for those less fortunate," Green says. "Coach Pop(ovich) in San Antonio was very similar. Those things helped raise me. If you make it, you have a responsibility to take care of those who need help. It was a way to change a person's day, and maybe even change a person's life. I've been one of those kids. People in my community couldn't afford to go to school. Being part of those activities helped build a foundation for me."
His relationship with his sister heightened Booker's sensitivity to the challenges people with disabilities face in social situations. Over the course of his NBA career, he has worked with Special Olympics organizers to bring its members to two draft lotteries. On Thursday morning, Booker became the newest Special Olympics global ambassador. "I am really excited about it," Booker told ESPN during a phone interview. "I have always dibbled and dabbled in partnering with them. Being raised with my sister and the challenges she faces every day have always driven me."
Booker created the Devin Booker Starting Five to further his commitment to the Phoenix community, pledging $500,000 annually to five different youth-serving nonprofits in Arizona, and a total of $2.5 million over the course of five years. In November, he announced Special Olympics Arizona, Ability 360, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, UMOM New Day Centers and Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center as members of the Starting Five.
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As of 8 a.m., the games were not canceled. The first is to be played Thursday night at the Mercedes Benz Arena here; the second on Sunday night in Shenzhen. Wednesday’s media availability was the fourth scheduled NBA proceeding here that was scrapped within hours before they were scheduled to start. Chinese governmental agencies canceled two NBA Cares events scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday — one to benefit a local elementary school and the other for Special Olympics. A fan event scheduled for Wednesday night was also canceled. Further, the arena here removed the game from the schedule on its website.
The NBA Cares event in Shanghai involving the Los Angeles Lakers was canceled Wednesday just hours before it was scheduled to begin, adding to the fallout from a recent tweet by Rockets GM Daryl Morey that showed support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong. The NBA would only say that calling off the event, which was supposed to benefit the Special Olympics, was not its decision.
The Phoenix Suns' Devin Booker is representing his team at the NBA draft lottery on Tuesday, and just like he did last year, he's inviting a young fan to go with him. Devin made a surprise visit to an elementary school in Chandler, Ariz., on Friday to ask 11-year-old Noah Smith if he'd go with him to New York. Noah is a huge Suns fan and Special Olympics athlete.
Devin Booker extended an invite to the Draft Lottery to 11-year-old Noah Smith during a surprise visit to Noah's school. #ThisIsWhyWePlay https://t.co/JxJNS0Qw9u
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) May 13, 2017
Nearly 200 fans lined up outside the Halo Mobile food truck for free burgers, autographs and photos with the one-time NBA All-Star Saturday afternoon. The burger features two patties, a grilled pineapple, bacon, a crispy onion ring, a raw onion ring, two slices of cheese and a special mix of Halo and barbeque sauce. It's being sold for $4.99 but a $1 from every Dre Burger for the month of May goes to Special Olympics of Flint. "For me, this is huge," Drummond said. "I'm 23-years-old and I've always watched sports and seen all these guys be on the boxes of Wheaties and have their own shoes, sandals or whatever it may be, but to have your own burger named after you, with me physically making it and not somebody else making it for me, is incredible.
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