Vote for the 2020-21 NBA Cares Seasonlong Community Assist Award

The NBA is delighted to reveal the 10 candidates for the 2020-21 NBA Cares Community Assist Award, sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, who have demonstrated remarkable dedication to their respective communities and made a positive difference outside the basketball court.

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Below are the nominees.

DeAndre’ Bembry

Benefiting Charity: AP World

DeAndre’ Bembry has shown a commitment to giving back to the community since he began his career in the NBA. He started the AP World organization in memory of his late brother, Adrien, who tragically lost his life to gun violence just weeks before the 2016 NBA Draft. The organization focuses on building safer communities and providing resources to families to help them cope with and overcome grief.

Throughout the year, DeAndre’ has been actively involved with AP World, participating in various charitable activities. These include providing Thanksgiving meals for families, partnering with Operation Warm to give brand new coats to needy children in Toronto, and donating 500 pairs of new shoes to the Boys & Girls Club Youth in Indianapolis in February with the help of Shoes that Fit. Prior to the National Gun Violence Survivors week in the first week of February, Bembry took part in a virtual roundtable discussion. He joined an all-athlete panel to share his personal experience and advocate for gun safety.

In April, DeAndre’ took part in a digital assembly for the Huddle Up Bullying Prevention Program in Toronto. The program aims to counteract bullying, racism, and discrimination by fostering an environment of inclusion, diversity, and equity, as well as encouraging students to stand up against such issues. Bembry’s online talk reached thousands of young people in over 100 Ontario schools, demonstrating how to navigate through tough situations and emerge stronger.

Bembry is taking part in a Wear Orange virtual panel on June 4, as a part of the 7th Annual National Gun Violence Awareness Day, where he’ll share his family’s story. His undeniable dedication to safety against gun violence is inspiring, particularly in how he’s transformed such a tragic experience into a foundation that aids other families attempting to cope with grief.

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Devin Booker

Benefiting Charity: Phoenix Suns Charities

Devin Booker, a guard for the Phoenix Suns, was awarded the May NBA Cares Community Assist Award by Kaiser Permanente. This accolade was in acknowledgement of his ongoing dedication to assisting young individuals and families in the wider Phoenix region.

In May, during a Suns home game, Booker unexpectedly announced to five local nonprofit organizations that they were selected for the 2020-21 Devin Booker Starting Five initiative. This announcement was made through a pre-recorded in-game address. The nonprofits – Arizona Autism United, Central Arizona Shelter Services, YMCA of Southern Arizona, GAP Ministries and Elevate Phoenix – each received a $100,000 grant from Booker. This funding aimed to address financial difficulties caused by the pandemic and support the organizations’ efforts to better the lives of local families and youth. To further honor and assist the 2020-21 class, a limited-edition Devin Booker Starting Five hoodie was created by Booker and Phoenix Suns Charities. These unique hoodies, designed by Booker himself, were sold for a limited time with all proceeds going to Phoenix Suns Charities.

The Devin Booker Starting Five, which annually donates $500,000 to five different youth-serving nonprofits in Arizona, has identified its second class of beneficiary organizations. Over five years, this initiative will disperse a total of $2.5 million. The first set of organizations — Special Olympics Arizona, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center, UMOM New Day Centers, and Ability 360 — received their $100,000 grants at the end of 2019. Besides his Starting Five program, Booker has contributed substantially to youth and families in the Valley, offering support through COVID-19 relief and holiday shopping sprees. As a Special Olympics Global Ambassador, he actively encourages inclusion through sports.

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Joel Embiid

Benefiting Charity: Covenant House Pennsylvania

In March, Joel Embiid, the center for the Philadelphia 76ers, was awarded the Community Assist Award. In the same month, after his fourth consecutive year of being named an NBA All-Star starter, Embiid continued his battle against homelessness in Philadelphia. He donated $100,000 to three local organizations: Youth Services Inc., Project HOME, and Sunday Breakfast Mission. Embiid also provided 15,000 meals, 4,000 essential clothing items, medical treatment for 1,000 individuals lacking secure housing, and provided access to a six-week summer camp for 50 homeless youth and shelter for over 300 teenagers facing housing insecurity.

Embiid offered support to his local community by helping five families severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. He provided each family with gifts, clothing, groceries, and a year’s worth of rent relief.

Embiid’s community contributions over the past year have largely concentrated on COVID-19 relief. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Embiid teamed up with 76ers Managing Partners Josh Harris and David Blitzer to donate $1.3 million to Penn Medicine for the development of antibody testing for frontline healthcare workers. As part of his ongoing commitment to healthcare workers, he pledged $500,000 through the #FirstRespondersFirst campaign, a project of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Thrive Global, and the CAA Foundation, to supply PPE to frontline workers.

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Jrue Holiday

Benefiting Charity: The Jrue and Lauren Holiday Social Impact Fund

Jrue Holiday, a guard for the Milwaukee Bucks, and Josh Richardson, a guard for the Dallas Mavericks, were co-recipients of the January NBA Cares Community Assist Award, sponsored by Kaiser Permanente.

In November, upon joining the Bucks, Jrue and Lauren Holiday partnered with the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation. Their aim was to identify small businesses, especially those owned by women and Black individuals, that required assistance the most. After assessing several grant requests, the Holidays announced in January that they would be funding seven local businesses. These include Amri Counseling Services, Carter’s Quality Care, Hands at Home, Jamaican Season Island Restaurant, Kid’s Kingdom, Legacy Home Health Services, and The SW Retreat. These businesses offer a range of services in southeastern Wisconsin such as assisted living, home health, childcare, mental health and substance abuse services, hospitality, and more.

Holiday has also shown his dedication to help communities close to his heart by making long-term commitments. These include his pledge to use the rest of his 2020 NBA salary to establish The Jrue and Lauren Holiday Social Justice Fund. This fund aims to fight systemic racism and work towards economic equality by offering financial aid and support to Black-led organizations and businesses. Earlier in the season, the fund confirmed its support for 25 non-profits and historically Black institutions, along with 23 Black-owned small businesses in Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Indianapolis.

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Damian Lillard

Benefiting Charity: Special Olympics Oregon

Damian Lillard, a guard for the Portland Trail Blazers, was acknowledged with the April NBA Cares Community Assist Award, sponsored by Kaiser Permanente. This was in recognition of his ongoing work to uplift the youth in Portland.

Since his arrival in Portland in 2012, Lillard has been dedicated to investing in and mentoring local high school students through his RESPECT program. This program supports, encourages, and celebrates students from three Portland-area high schools – McDaniel, Parkrose, and Roosevelt. Amid the global pandemic and the shift to virtual learning this year, the RESPECT program adapted to continue student engagement. Lillard maintained remote contact with the participants through video visits and used his social media platforms to recognize students and teachers who embodied the program’s principles. As schools resumed in-person learning, Lillard provided RESPECT-branded face masks for the program’s participating students and staff.

Lillard introduced a special RESPECT variant of his Dame7 shoe, exclusively for students in the program. The 500 pairs made were adorned with McDaniel, Parkrose, and Roosevelt school colors, and embodied the three RESPECT principles: Show Up, Work Hard, and Be Kind. The shoes were presented to RESPECT’s allied schools as a reward for students exemplifying these principles, and Lillard himself sported the sneakers numerous times during the season. Alongside RESPECT, Lillard maintained his ambassadorship for the Moda Assist Program, in collaboration with Moda Health and the Trail Blazers. This program donates $20 per assist made during the season towards the construction of inclusive playgrounds for all abilities across Oregon. This year, the city of Astoria has been chosen to receive funding to aid in the creation of an all-abilities playground, benefiting their community.

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Patty Mills

Benefiting Charity: Urban Indigenous Health

San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills took home the February NBA Cares Community Assist Award presented by Kaiser Permanente in recognition of his continued efforts to create opportunities that empower Indigenous young people and advance social justice in his native Australia.

In February, Indigenous Basketball Australia, a foundation established by Mills to facilitate Aboriginal Australians’ entry into basketball, initiated the first-ever Indigenous Community Basketball League (ICBL) for players aged 14 and under at eight different locations across Australia. These tournaments, crafted to honor and uphold Indigenous cultural practices, put emphasis not just on basketball skills development, but also on life skills education. This includes aspects such as mental and physical wellness and the reinforcement of personal identity at a vital age. Furthermore, Mills joined forces with the NBA and the Jr. NBA to unveil the National Indigenous Basketball Tournament (NIBT) slated to take place on the Gold Coast in Queensland from April 11-13. This event is set to offer extra developmental opportunities both on and off the court for 48 boys and girls.

Much of Mills’ professional career in the United States has been devoted to assisting Australia, specifically in empowering Indigenous youth and communities of color. He made significant contributions to social justice organizations in 2020, donating his remaining salary from the 2019-20 season. Alongside other prominent Australian athletes, he also initiated the ‘We Got You’ campaign, aimed at eradicating racism, exclusion, and discrimination within sports. Moreover, Mills coordinated a $750,000 donation from nine Australian NBA players following the severe Australian bushfires earlier that year.

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Donovan Mitchell

Benefiting Charity: Children’s Village

Donovan Mitchell, a guard for the Utah Jazz, was awarded the Offseason NBA Cares Community Assist Award by Kaiser Permanente. This accolade recognized his ongoing work towards social justice and promoting education during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 NBA seasons.

In December, the Mitchell family made a $12 million donation to Greenwich Country Day School, the alma mater of Donovan and his sister Jordan, and where their mother, Nicole, taught for over ten years. This was the largest single donation in the school’s history. The funds will establish the Mitchell Family Scholarship Fund for students from pre-K to 12th grade, the Nicole Mitchell Faculty Support Fund for passionate teachers, and the new D.O.N.! The Determination Over Negativity Mitchell Family Athletic Center. Previously in the summer, Mitchell donated his Adidas D.O.N. Issue #2 sneaker proceeds. These went to the education of Jacob Blake’s children, students of color at the University of Louisville, and teachers at preschools in Connecticut and the Bronx. This totaled over $300,000 in scholarships and academic help.

Mitchell, known for his staunch commitment to addressing racial injustice during the NBA 2019-20 season restart, kept the conversation going in the offseason. He teamed up with then-vice-presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, CJ McCollum from Portland and Tobias Harris from Philadelphia to discuss educational, economic and social disparities. Mitchell was also appointed to the first board of the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition, a group that aims to use basketball’s influence to raise awareness, educate, and push for significant reform. Through his SPIDACARES organization, he continually gives back to those who need it most.

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Larry Nance Jr.

Benefiting Charity: Athletes vs. Chron’s

In his native Northeast Ohio, Larry Nance Jr. is revered as a local basketball and community champion. To mitigate the damaging effects of COVID-19 on small businesses, Larry pledged to use every regular season game to support pre-chosen local businesses. He achieves this by donating all auction proceeds from his game-worn jerseys. Larry, alongside the Cavs, matches these proceeds, effectively tripling the financial aid received by each small business.

Larry received hundreds of packages from local businesses eager to be spotlighted during his pregame walk-up, thanks to his social media challenge. Furthermore, the small business owners are interviewed post-game by the Cavs FieldHouse Creative Team. These interviews are showcased on Cavs digital platforms, allowing fans a deeper insight into the businesses and extending their story’s reach throughout the Northeast Ohio community.

Larry managed to raise over $222k and secured significant exposure for 72 deserving small businesses as the Cavs season ended. Furthermore, Westfield, a corporate partner of the Cavs, doubled the amount raised from Larry’s jersey auction with an additional donation of $100K. This donation was made to the Urban League of Greater Cleveland and the Akron Urban League, both of which assist minority-owned businesses. In a separate initiative in 2017, Larry established the Athletes vs Chron’s and Colitis foundation. This foundation’s goal is to raise awareness about both diseases among young people and help children who are diagnosed to still achieve their athletic potential.

Throughout the pandemic, Larry leveraged his platform to address the mental and physical effects of COVID-19 on individuals with pre-existing auto-immune conditions.

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Josh Richardson

Benefiting Charity: Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors

Shortly before the start of the 2020-21 season, Richardson joined the Mavericks and immediately aimed to make a contribution to the wider Dallas area. He unexpectedly gifted dozens of UT Southwestern Medical Center frontline health care workers with Reebok sneakers, team merchandise, and a surprise video message expressing gratitude for their continuous efforts to ensure the community’s safety. Additionally, he visited a first-grade class in the Dallas Independent School District as a guest reader, astonishing the students and motivating them to value reading and education amid this school year’s unique challenges.

Richardson, the son of an Air Force servicewoman, has maintained his involvement with the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, a program offering comfort, care, and resources to those mourning the loss of a servicemember. Over the years, he has fostered a strong bond with his mentee, Elijah, through this program. Additionally, during the holiday season, he generously gifted more than 20 families, who, like him, have suffered the loss of a loved one in service.

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Russell Westbrook

Benefiting Charity: Russell Westbrook Why Not? Foundation

Russell Westbrook, apart from leaving a legacy through his basketball career, also leaves a lasting impact in the communities where he resides and plays. Partnering with the LA Promise Fund, Westbrook launched the Russell Westbrook Why Not? Academy in his home city of Los Angeles as he moved into a new team market. This academy, catering to middle and high school students, aims to enhance access to educational services and outdoor activities for children and the broader community in south Los Angeles. Westbrook established The Why Not? Foundation in 2012 with an ambition to support at-risk groups by providing education, mental health resources, and workforce tools. The foundation also inspires young individuals to think creatively, chase their dreams, and persist regardless of the challenges they face. In November, Westbrook and his foundation collaborated with the L.A. Regional Food Bank to distribute Thanksgiving meals to Los Angeles residents for the ninth consecutive year.

In December, Russell organized a unique Christmas sneaker giveaway for all the students at The Children’s Guild District of Columbia Public Charter School. This school caters to many students from homeless or precarious housing backgrounds. In February, he partnered with Varo Bank as an advisor, aiming to address income disparities through programs that enhance financial literacy within the minority community. Besides his immediate community outreach, Westbrook has been proactive in educating communities about the various injustices faced by Black people in America throughout history.

In April, Russell announced he was producing a documentary on the often overlooked and untaught event in American history, the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The documentary is set to debut on May 30.

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