NBA Cares and More...

When looking to sports leagues for their and their team’s involvement in the community, a great example is the National Basketball Association (NBA). The NBA houses 30 teams that, together, generated the league about $8.76 billion in the 2018-2019 season (Statistica, 2020). Although the league consistently rakes in billions of dollars, they still find a way to give back to those who have supported them and to those who are less fortunate.

The NBA Cares program “is a global social responsibility program that builds on [their] mission of addressing important social issues around education, youth and family development, and health-related causes in communities around the world”

The NBA runs its own global community outreach through NBA Cares as well as having individual teams conduct their own community relations. The NBA states that their NBA Cares program “is a global social responsibility program that builds on [their] mission of addressing important social issues around education, youth and family development, and health-related causes in communities around the world” (NBA, 2016). Through this program they partner with multiple community partners such as the YMCA, the Boys and Girls Club of America, the Special Olympics and much more. With these partnerships they are able to collaborate on various programs, like:

Steph Curry's Nothing But Nets Partnership and trip (Nothing But Nets)

The Nothing But Nets Campaign: With Stephen Curry advocating for this cause, he pledged to donate three bed nets for every three-pointer he made to help combat malaria in Africa. This campaign is run in conjunction with the United Nations Foundation and allows for people to donate $10 to purchase bed nets for people living in Africa to help protect them from malaria-carrying mosquitos (Nothing But Nets, 2020).

My Brother’s Keeper: In partnership with the White House and the Obama Administration, the My Brother’s Keeper Campaign is a mentorship program recruiting young men and boys of color. It aims to recruit members of the community to serve as mentors for children to promote school attendance and academic excellence in underserved communities (Chrinian, 2016).

Share Our Strength: Working within conjunction with Share Our Strength's "No Kid Hungry" campaign, the NBA helps to provide kids access to nutritious and healthy meals throughout the school year and year-round (NBA Cares, 2016)

Along with the NBA Working within conjunction with their ‘No Kid Hungry’ campaign, the NBA helps to provide kids access to nutritious and healthy meals throughout the school year and year-round.er teams and some special to their team. The programs and events they employ work to support the community that supports them. This allows for connections to be made and for passions about the community to develop within players, even moving them to create their own foundations to support their communities. Overall, the National Basketball Association and its 30 teams have numerous community relations programs and events that have not only benefited them but their communities as well.