When we think of the world’s most celebrated sports stars, we tend to think of the lavish lifestyles they often lead—the multimillion-dollar paychecks, the sprawling mansions, the fleets of sportscars.
In reality, some of the sports world’s biggest earners are also some of the most generous philanthropists. We look at six NBA stars who have also made names for themselves as philanthropists.
6. Shane Battier
Shane Battier is a two-time NBA champion with the Miami Heat and was twice named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. Battier came to the NBA after showstopping career at Duke, where he was named the national college player of the year in 2001. His no. 31 jersey was retired by the Blue Devils. After retiring from the NBA following the 2013-2014 season, he has dedicated a great deal of time to giving back.
Battier founded the Take Charge Foundation, an organization that provides promising young students with higher education scholarships. He also hosted an event called Battioke, a team gathering that raised money for charity through his teammates singing karaoke.
5. Serge Ibaka
Congolese Serge Ibaka is the Toronto Raptors’ star forward. Though he lives an ocean apart from his home country, he has never forgotten his roots. He teams up with Cowbell Milk every year to present the Cowbell Ibaka Games, a celebration of Congolese culture.
In addition, Ibaka has established his own foundation created to promote health, nutrition, and education for young people growing up in the Republic of the Congo. He spoke on stage at the Global Citizen Festival in New York after being appointed a Global Citizen Ambassador for Health.
4. Sterling Brown
In 2018, Sterling Brown joined Puma’s #REFORM campaign after a viral video revealed that he had been a victim of police brutality. The footage showed Brown being surrounded by several police officers before being tasered and arrested after being reprimanded for parking illegally.The Milwaukee Bucks star player used the incident to raise public awareness of police brutality.
Brown and his brother Shannon launched the Brown Brothers S.A.L.U.T.E. Foundation, which is backed by Puma. Focusing on their hometown in suburban Chicagoland, the foundation is partnering with violence prevention agencies to provide families with special resources supporting mental health, family structure, and educational support. Brown has also launched a six-week virtual financial literacy program to help families build a financially sound foundation and provide them with vital tools to help them work their way out of the precarious reality of living paycheck to paycheck.
3. Stephen Curry
Partnering with USAID and the United Nations, seven-time NBA All-Star Stephen Curry is committed to helping alleviate malaria cases worldwide.
In 2012, Curry pledged three sleeping nets for each three-point shot he made, as well as promoting the #CallYourShot fundraising drive in 2016 to raise money to help communities impacted by malaria. In 2018, Curry donated a malaria bed for every sale of his Nothing But Sneakers signature sneakers. The initiative resulted in a donation of more than 10,000 beds.
In addition to his charity work to tackle malaria, Curry has funded scholarships for the children of active duty military servicemen and women. He also partnered with Under Armour and Chase Bank to renovate the Carole Hoefener Center in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. Moreover, he and his wife, Ayesha Curry, are the founders of the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, which focuses on ending childhood hunger, ensuring equitable access to quality education, and creating safe spaces where children can exercise and play.
2. Kevin Durant
Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant is no stranger to philanthropy. In 2018, when he was with the Golden State Warriors, Durant teamed with the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula to fund the first year of college tuition for four Club graduates. Durant gave more than just money, pledging personal support to students.
Durant established the Kevin Durant Charity Foundation in 2013, an organization created to enrich the lives of at-risk young people from low-income backgrounds through a variety of athletic, educational, and social programs. The foundation has disbursed grants supporting a variety of important causes, including disaster relief, homelessness, girls’ empowerment, social justice, and youth athletics.
In 2019, Durant’s foundation launched College Track at the Durant Center, welcoming its first class of 69 students. The foundation intends to turn the Durant Center into a hive for community-centric public services, such as entrepreneurial leadership programs, career readiness and financial literary resources, workforce development programs for teens and young adults, digital skills training, and STEM education.
1. LeBron James
LeBron James is not only one of the greatest basketball players in history, but also the sport’s most generous star. “King James” regularly pledges significant donations to support a variety of worthy causes, internationally, nationally, and in his hometown of Akron, Ohio.
When James left the Cleveland Cavaliers to play for the Miami Heat in 2010, he came under heavy criticism from Cleveland fans for disloyalty. However, James took the proceeds from an ESPN special on his dilemma and pledged the money to charity, giving most of the $3 million in profits to Boys & Girls Clubs throughout the country.
The LeBron James Family Foundation subsequently raised more than $40 million for the After-School All-Stars initiative that he established for children in Akron. In response to the worrying school dropout rates in his hometown, his foundation also funded the creation of the I Promise School (IPS), a public school for at-risk students. The school provides uniforms, bikes and helmets, food for students and their families, and even GED and job training services for parents. In early 2020, James announced that eligible IPS students in the first graduating class will receive four years of free tuition at Kent State University. James has been widely quoted by media saying that the creation of IPS is the most significant professional achievement of his life.
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