It’s one thing to cajole an NBA player into participating in a community event during All-Star Weekend.
While that’s a worthwhile philanthropic endeavor, it’s an entirely different circumstance when a player travels to an unfamiliar part of the world to help.
It’s Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry going to Tanzania and delivering mosquito nets to families trying to prevent malaria
The leading killer of children in Africa, according to the grassroots organization Nothing But Nets.
Or it’s Los Angeles Lakers big man Pau Gasol visiting Syrian refugees in Iraq.
Or it’s Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving traveling to South Africa on behalf of UNICEF and the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program to help transform lives through education.
Or it’s Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez going to Africa with the Clinton Foundation to help provide clean water to developing communities.
“It warms my heart because we talk about the values of sports and the fact is our players have outsized influence on youth around the world and for them to recognize that and to use that in a positive way is spectacular for the kids and causes and good for the NBA,” NBA Commissioner David Stern told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s also wonderful for the growth of our players as well. We couldn’t be happier and we don’t push them into many of these things. They just do it.”
Curry first got involved with Nothing But Nets in college and continued his relationship with the organization in the NBA. Last season, Curry donated three nets for every three-pointer he made, and he set an NBA record for most threes made in a season with 272, amounting to 816 nets.
“There’s a tangible goal at the end of it. It’s $10 to save four lives,” Curry said. “It’s a small commitment that has such a big impact. It’s possible that you can eradicate the whole problem of malaria in Africa just like we’ve done here in the North America and Europe just by providing by these nets for people in those areas and by killing the species of mosquito that is carrying the bacteria.”
Curry spent 2½ days in a refugee camp in northwest Tanzania, home to 66,000 Congolese refugees. It was Curry’s first time in Africa.
“It’s really, really heartbreaking. It’s tough to see but I’m really glad I went and could bring that story home,” he said. “I wanted to see the faces of the people we were helping and hear their stories. and it drove home the point of why I’ve been involved for so long. So many people need those nets.”
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Source: New York Post
