NBA chips into Special Olympics campaign to 'End the Word'

Words are powerful things. They can be helpful or hurtful, inspiring or disheartening. And sometimes, powerful beyond what we can expect.

"Spread the Word to End the Word" is a Special Olympics campaign to eliminate use of the words "retard" and "retarded." Its goals are to promote the contributions made by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and to educate the public about the damaging effects of the "R-word."

The R-word isn't as universally considered taboo as some other derogatory terms. People use it without any real malicious intent because they don't realize how hurtful it is.

That's why the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign is important.

The movement to eliminate the R-word began in 2004 by the Special Olympics and its international board of directors. And last October, President Barack Obama signed "Rosa's Law," which removes the terms "mental retardation" and "mentally retarded" from federal health, education and labor policy, replacing them with more proper terms "individual with an intellectual disability" and "intellectual disability."

The NBA has a longstanding partnership with the Special Olympics, which includes sponsorships of basketball tournaments, the creation of public service announcements and NBA player participation in Special Olympic events. Several NBA players, including Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler, Dwight Howard and Chris Paul, have signed up to be a part of the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign.

Sam Perkins played 17 years in the NBA with the Mavs, Lakers, Sonics and Pacers. He was introduced to the Special Olympics when he played at the University of North Carolina and has supported the organization since.

These days, he's a member of the Special Olympics international board of directors.

At All-Star Weekend in February, Perkins took part in a Special Olympics clinic with Tim Duncan, Shannon Brown, Darryl Dawkins and more than 60 athletes from Special Olympics Southern California.

Perkins is passionate about promoting acceptance for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He's doing his part to eradicate the R-word.

"The word retard doesn't even belong in anyone's vocabulary, when it comes to talking about people who are affected with mental disabilities," Perkins says. "We just can't allow it.

"You hope that people from all over will stop using the word retard, because it's offensive and it doesn't apply anywhere in our language."

Wednesday, March 2 is National Awareness Day for the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign. Several NBA teams are hosting events this week to promote the day and the campaign, asking everyone to make a pledge to stop using the R-word.

For more information on Spread the Word to End the Word and to pledge your support to end use of the R-word, please visit r-word.org.