National Basketball Association (NBA) on Wednesday announced an estimated $3 million to be raised for charity through the All-Star game on Sunday. The total amount raised will be donated to the HBCUs (historically Black colleges or universities) and communities of colour impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.Â
The two organizations Thurgood Marshall College Fund and United Negro College Fund that support historically Black colleges or institutions will be the primary benefactors, each guaranteed $500,000 in scholarship funding before the game even starts and with an additional $750,000 at stake during the game. The last shot of Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game will be worth $300,000 for either of the two teams.
Lebron James and Kevin Durant will be captaining either of the teams as their respective all-star beneficiary. Participants will also be paired with an HBCU in the Skills Challenge, 3-Point Contest and Slam Dunk Contest to raise monetary help to benefit the students, faculty or programs that will address emergency aid, technology needs, food insecurities, and mental health services aggravated by the pandemic.
NBA also revealed that each assist made in the All-Star game will generated a $1,900 donation from the State Farm straight through the UNCF for the scholarship funding. Their aim by doing so is to facilitate real life assistance through an in-game assist.
National Basketball Players Association president Chris Paul said, “I have a class at North Carolina A&T. My brother and my AAU team have been doing calls with different coaches at HBCUs. It’s the education of it. In doing this, I’ve been able to learn a lot. … I’m just trying to bring awareness to not only myself but other people about these HBCUs that I think a lot of time get overlooked. I just want to tell our players great job — great job doing what you’re doing and we’re going to continue to make change with action.”
The NBA family will carry on with their education and awareness efforts around important public health and safety communications, and subsequently through the event, raise awareness on the significance of HBCUs, which has received a lot of criticism.