June 8, 2023

 When many of us watch and follow professional sports, we usually focus on the performance of our favorite athletes on the court, field etc (Who can blame you? Watching the Heat vs. Nuggets in this year’s NBA Finals is must see TV!) When we turn on ESPN, we see the league’s latest free agent signings, trades and the most recent fashion statement made by some of our favorite players walking into the stadium pregame, such as NBA veteran PJ Tucker’s diamond-encrusted Air Jordan 1’s, reportedly worth $250k. Crazy, I know.

While it’s fun to witness the stars of our favorite teams like Nikola Jokic making headlines for scoring 40+ points against their Finals counterpart or watching Aaron Judge hit a walk off home run in the bottom of the 9th inning, or to see some of the other aforementioned news material, it doesn’t come close to what’s really important in life.
What am I getting at here???

CHARITY. Well, for those among you who are sports fans, it might be pleasing for you to hear about the acts of kindness that some of your favorite athletes conduct off the court. From substantial charitable donations to building basketball courts in their hometowns, to committing to pay college tuition for children in a certain community or town, etc.

In the NBA, for example, on the subject of players that participate in the act of giving charity and doing good deeds, the list ranges from LeBron James, who has donated at least $41.6M to various causes since the start of his professional career. Derrick Rose, donated $1M to Chicago schools, and Michael Jordan has donated millions of dollars to a number of causes such as promoting relief efforts for those who suffered from Hurricane Katrina, and he’s also created opportunities for children to receive proper education. In addition, according to an article from Feb, 2020, LeBron James was recognized for paying the college tuition for 193 students!

Even young players are getting in on the fun, as the 24-year-old Starting Quarterback for the NFL’s Chicago Bears, Justin Fields, was just recently commended for making a $10k donation to Special Olympics Illinois, according to Front Office Sports.

To conclude, charity is something many of those we admire are doing, maybe some food for thought for our lives moving forward.
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Stay well!

Alex Posen
Aposen@nnaplan.com
(718) 618-9641