Steve Nash has himself a busy coaching weekend, perhaps auditioning for the growing number of vacancies around the NBA (not really). Along with helping Drake coach the Canadian celebrity team, Nash will join Yao Ming, Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker, and more as honorary coaches for the NBA Cares Special Olympics Unified game on Saturday.
Those players will be joined by several other notable names, including Steph Curry and father Dell, as well as the inspiring Isaiah Austin, for a 40-minute demonstration featuring 12 Special Olympics athletes. The game will include Bruce Bowen, Tracy McGrady, Tamika Catchings, and more.
Here’s more about the game, from a league release:
First held at NBA All-Star 2012, the NBA Cares Special Olympics Unified® Basketball Game will bring together athletes with and without intellectual disabilities as teammates to showcase the power of Special Olympics, which helps to unify communities and foster an environment of acceptance and inclusion. Following the game, NBA Legend A.C. Green, Jeremy Lamb, Rodney Hood and Lindsay Whalen will host 75 youth athletes from local Special Olympics Programs for a basketball clinic on the NBA FIT Court presented by Kumho Tire at Enercare Centre.
“The NBA Cares Special Olympics Unified® Basketball Game has become a highlight of our NBA Cares All-Star efforts,” said NBA Senior Vice President, Social Responsibility Todd Jacobson. “We value the passion Special Olympics shares for basketball and inclusion and are looking forward to bringing together some of the best athletes from across the globe for this terrific game.”
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Bruce Bowen, NBA Legend
Jason Collins, NBA Cares Ambassador
Tamika Catchings, Indiana Fever
Ticha Penicheiro, WNBA Legend
Eliza Mills, Australia
Franck Cedric Koffi, Cote d’Ivoire
Milton Vieira, Italy
Natalie Branscombe, Canada (Nova Scotia)
Sarah Byrne, Ireland
Gohulan Rajalingam, Canada (Toronto)East
Detlef Schrempf, NBA Legend
Tracy McGrady, 7-time NBA All-Star
Elena Delle Donne, Chicago Sky
Ruth Riley, WNBA Cares Ambassador & 2003 WNBA Finals MVP
Duquan Walker, U.S. (Mississippi)
James Black, U.S. (Washington, D.C.)
Jose Rondon Zapata, Venezuela
Maria-Lamprini Dragkola, Greece
Matt Grimes, U.S. (Massachusetts)
Temitope Amodu, Nigeria
This isn’t the only event NBA Cares is putting on throughout the week. The first ever Jr. NBA Dat at Enercare Centre on Friday, where Under Armour will host more than 2,500 local school kids to play on 40 courts. There will also be several fitness and basketball clinics throughout the area on Thursday, Make-A-Wish grants, a visit to SickKids hospital on Thursday, an NBA Cares Wheelchair Basketball Clinic on Sunday, and more.
There’s also a Basketball Without Borders camp on the weekend, which includes Bruno Caboclo, Bismack Biyombo, and several other members of the Raptors organization.
This all serves as a good reminder that All-Star Weekend isn’t just a party in the city. The NBA does a phenomenal job of community and charitable outreach year-round, and the city of Toronto stands to benefit from those endeavors over the course of the week. The NBA, and the Raptors organization, stay terrific in this regard.
