Cleveland Cavaliers star Kevin Love is just one of many Hoops for St. Jude NBA ambassadors who help celebrate the lifesaving work of St. Jude.
The NBA family will once again come together during Hoops for St. Jude Week™ April 3-9 to raise awareness of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s lifesaving work and celebrate the league’s long-standing support of the world-class hospital. The support of NBA stars, coaches, broadcasters and fans helps St. Jude continue leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
Hoops for St. Jude Week™ highlights the work and successes of St. Jude through online, social media and in-game promotions, such as hosting and highlighting local patients in-arena. NBA coaches and national sports broadcasters will also wear St. Jude lapel pins to show solidarity during games. Fans can get involved by becoming a St. Jude Fan for Life, and be automatically entered to win one of 30 team jerseys autographed by NBA stars. Supporters are encouraged to watch and share the fun videos created by campaign supporters Kyle Lowry (Toronto Raptors), Gordon Hayward (Utah Jazz) and Vince Carter (Memphis Grizzlies) highlighting the Fan for Life campaign.
St. Jude ambassadors – players and coaches who contribute to and regularly visit and encourage people to support patients, and their families at St. Jude – will also use their social media channels, personal appearances and interviews to help raise awareness of St. Jude and its mission to save the lives of children battling cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
“The support of the entire NBA family means the world to everyone at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital – whether players and coaches are visiting with patients or the team and NBA leadership are working to raise awareness of our work; this is a truly amazing partnership,” said Richard Shadyac Jr., CEO of ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
NBA support stretches beyond Hoops for St. Jude Week. Just this season, the hospital has hosted on-site visits by players, coaches and staff from the Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Toronto Raptors, Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz, New Orleans Pelicans, Chicago Bulls, Memphis Grizzlies, Cleveland Cavaliers, Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers.
The players’ support – both financial and celebrity – helps in multiple ways. It will cost $885 million to run St. Jude in 2015, and 75 percent of those funds will be raised through individual contributions, with an average donation of just $34.Thanks to support generated through campaigns like Hoops for St. Jude Week, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.
Player visits are an important part of the NBA relationship, and never fail to brighten the day of St. Jude patients, like Adam and Nick, who both have a passion for basketball, and had a special visit with Grizzlies players Mike Conley and Marc Gasol in the St. Jude Teen Room. Both patients smiled ear-to-ear while sharing stories from the court and playing video games with the NBA stars.
For more information, visit stjude.org/hoops, follow @StJude on Twitter or show your support by becoming a St. Jude Fan for Life.
Ambassadors for the 2015 Hoops for St. Jude Week are:
- Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers
- David Lee, Golden State Warriors
- Greg Monroe, Detroit Pistons
- Mike Conley, Memphis Grizzlies
- Coach Monty Williams, New Orleans Pelicans
- Coach George Karl, Sacramento Kings
Editor’s Note:
Interviews, Hoops for St. Jude ambassador quotes, b-roll, video and photos available upon request.
About NBA Cares
NBA Cares is the league's global social responsibility program that builds on the NBA's mission of addressing important social issues in the United States and around the world. Through this program, the NBA, its teams and players have donated more than $230 million to charity, completed more than 2.8 million hours of hands-on community service, and created more than 860 places where kids and families can live, learn, or play, in 25 countries and territories on five continents. NBA Cares works with internationally recognized youth-serving programs that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes, including: KaBOOM!, Special Olympics, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, UNICEF, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Share Our Strength and GLAAD.
About St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Its purpose is clear: Finding cures. Saving children.® It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80% since the hospital opened in 1962. St. Jude won't stop until no child dies from cancer. St. Jude shares the discoveries it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Because of generous donors, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food, so they can focus on helping their child live. Visit St. Jude Inspire to discover powerful St. Jude stories of hope, strength, love and kindness. Join the St. Jude mission by visiting stjude.org, liking St. Jude on Facebook, following St. Jude on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok, and subscribing to its YouTube channel.