NBA All-Star Weekend will bring more than just festivities and the game to Chicago. Also placed at center court by athletes and celebrities gathering here: giving back.
Retired Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal — alternately a rapper, music producer, DJ and reality TV star and currently a sports analyst on TNT’s acclaimed “Inside the NBA” show — will headline a fundraiser for the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s civil rights organization, Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
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The event, “Welcome to Chicago 2020,” will be co-chaired by fellow Hall of Famers Isiah Thomas, who played for the Detroit Pistons his entire 13-year NBA career, and Dave Bing, who played for the Pistons all but three of his own 12-year career.
To be held Feb. 13 at Soldier Field, the event will raise funds to roll out “Cool Kids Code,” a S.T.E.M. program for youth, in four cities this year after a successful pilot in Detroit.
The National Basketball Wives Association (NBWA) will spend the morning of Feb. 14 packing self-care kits for women’s shelters and school backpacks for youth organizations at “Chicago’s Community Love Fest 2020,” being held at Exchange 312 in Wicker Park.
They’ll follow that up with “Unsung Sheroes,” the NBWA’s 3rd Annual Women’s Empowerment Summit, being held Feb. 15 at the W Chicago - City Center. The all-star event benefits the NBWA Cares Community Fund, which this year will support the basketball program at the Chicago Public Schools’ Dunbar Vocational High on the Near South Side.
Jackson noted the All-Star Game was last played in Chicago in 1988 and before that, in 1973.
“[It] comes to Chicago for the first time in 32 years, and with it, the eyes of the basketball world,” said the civil rights leader. “We believe this is a great opportunity to bring attention to and raise funds for a worthy cause that will ensure the youth in urban cities have the technological skills necessary to compete in today’s transformative economy.”
“Cool Kids Code,” a three-week camp immersing inner city kids in a Silicon Valley-designed curriculum, was launched last summer in Detroit — considered Ground Zero for the digital divide, with the lowest digital access ranking of all major cities.
Partnering with the Wayne County Community College District, the program’s success with some 250 youth laid the ground work to bring it to Chicago kids this summer and youth in Cleveland, Dallas and Milwaukee. Backing the initiative are sponsors like General Motors, Fiat Chrysler Automotive and Ford Motor Co.
The “Welcome to Chicago” fundraiser is expected to draw numerous athletes, entertainers, dignitaries and sports enthusiasts from around the world converging here to see elite players led by the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James and Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo battle it out at the 69th NBA All-Star Game Feb. 16 at United Center.
O’Neal will fly in that Thursday to headline the event after his on-air duties on the Emmy-winning, post-game live show with Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith.
“I always enjoyed coming to Chicago during my career, and now I am coming back to help support a very good cause. I’m looking forward to it!” O’Neal said in an emailed statement.
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The NBWA women’s summit will be hosted by sports broadcaster Rosalyn “Ros” Gold-Onwude, most recently of TNT, now with ESPN. Moderators include fellow broadcaster Cari Champion, the ESPN “SportsCenter” anchor who abruptly left the network this month.
Speakers include actress Tia Mowry, currently starring in the Netflix comedy series “Family Reunion,” and a coach in the Entertainment Basketball League, where Mowry’s actor husband Cory Hardrict, a Chicago native, has played.
There’s also Jasmine Jordan, daughter of the GOAT — the Chicago Bulls’ Michael Jordan — and wife of former Indiana Pacers player Rakeem Christmas, now playing overseas. And there’s Elle Leonard, a Peoria native who is married to Meyers Leonard, the Portland Trail Blazers player now with Miami Heat.
Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx also will speak.
“A sheroe is a woman who truly sees another woman. By nature and selfless intent, she identifies ways to support that woman’s journey in a world that too often is looking to degrade and cut her down,” MBWA President/Director Mia Wright said of the rostrum.
“For All-Star Weekend, we are using our platform and gifts to hold up our unsung sheroes and the work that they do,” she said, “while continuing to nurture our youth, build strong communities and achieve economic stability for families and women across the world.”
Funds raised will bring to Dunbar the MBWA’s “Books & Ball” program, funding purchase of gear for girls’ and boys’ varsity basketball teams, ACT/SAT prep courses, private tutoring, and pre-game team bonding with nutritional meals.
