By Traci Rose

We played and we learned. We donated our time, talent, and resources. We traveled the city and state, visiting and contributing to communities where Trail Blazers fans live. We taught hundreds to play our game; we built centers for young children to learn, and renovated courts for high school athletes.

During the first season of the Trail Blazers “Make It Better” initiative, we celebrated more than 93,000 ‘assists’ to children and their families.

This season, we remain enthusiastic in our commitment to continue Coach McMillan’s charge to Make It Better. We tip-off the 2008-09 season having already assisted 15,407 lives through our summer initiatives.

It was July. The sign read “Welcome Portland Trail Blazers.” We were greeted by hundreds of kids bouncing basketballs in the gym of the Coos Bay Boys and Girls Club, several sporting team gear that represented a good decade or more of Trail Blazer favorites. A young Blazers fan was brought in to meet us, needing a lift after losing his mom in a tragic car accident.

Those memories marked the beginning of the Kia Motors Presents: Trail Blazers Make It Better Statewide Summer Tour. Supported by Kia, Providence Health & Services, Nike and Subway, the tour took team personnel on four week-long trips across Oregon. From Eugene to Pendleton, The Dalles to Prineville, and many places in between, the team visited 20 communities and thousands of kids, teaching basketball and life skills, playing where they live.

Across the country Head Start programs are being recognized for providing the most comprehensive and successful health and learning services to preschoolers. The Trail Blazers have long supported these efforts and most recently, with a grant from the NBA Cares and Toyota Project Rebound, the team created spaces in two Portland Head Start centers for students to focus on reading and learning. An effort that contributed numerous volunteer hours on behalf of Trail Blazers and Toyota staff, the newly constructed Reading and Learning Centers were completed over the summer and unveiled to the preschoolers, teachers and parents at community celebrations featuring Trail Blazers players, staff, alumni and Toyota representatives.

Complementing the team’s efforts to conduct basketball clinics in communities around Oregon, the Trail Blazers dedicated hundreds of hours to hosting Nike Let Me Play basketball clinics in parks throughout the Portland area. Working closely with Portland Public Schools, the team gave priority to offering basketball instruction as a complement to the summer learning programs the District offers to students as a way to continue to engage children and boost academic achievement.

Although he spent his summer lending an assist to the Olympic Gold Medal-winning USA Basketball Team in China, Trail Blazers Coach Nate McMillan did not compromise his tradition of teaching young people his favorite game back home. The third annual Coach McMillan Hoops Camp was held at the Trail Blazers practice facility in Tualatin, led by McMillan’s assistant coach and longtime friend Maurice Lucas. Coach Lucas stayed true to McMillan’s game plan, and with his team of local coaches, helped the campers learn the academics of basketball, important life skills, and stressed the importance of having fun.

Trail Blazers players continued to Make It Better in Portland and their home communities throughout the off-season. Greg Oden and Oregon Mentors hosted a celebration in the Rose Garden honoring mentors for their work with kids. Providing games and entertainment, the Trail Blazers “Big” dedicated the day to adults and their kids who have joined Team Oden as volunteer mentors.

Martell Webster spend an entire July weekend with athletes from Special Olympics Oregon, as the honorary chairman of Trail Blazers Street Jam. Webster was on site at the Rose Quarter for every moment of the 3-on-3 outdoor basketball festival benefiting Special Olympics. Channing Frye traveled to Medford, Oregon, to join Trail Blazers staff on the Statewide Summer Tour. Frye was greeted by 500 young basketball enthusiasts, and spent the day teaching campers skills and sharing his life experiences.

Brandon Roy launched his new charitable foundation, The Brandon Roy Foundation, dedicated to assisting children and teenagers in the areas of athletics and academics. Starksville, Mississippi held a daylong celebration in honor of their hometown hero, Travis Outlaw. Ike Diogu’s IKANDY Foundation, hosted a basketball camp for kids and donated food to the local homeless shelter in Garland, Texas. And the Trail Blazers newest member, Jerryd Bayless, wasted no time in sharing his off-the-court game plan, playing chess with Portland-area students involved in the Chess for Success program.

Perhaps no other group works harder for the team during the off-season than our very own Trail Blazers Alumni. Antonio Harvey, in partnership with Fred Meyer and Portland Parks, led efforts to plant, maintain and harvest a community garden. Dale Schlueter led reading time outs. Michael Harper, Michael Holton, Chris Dudley, and Clifford Robinson lent assists to Trail Blazers basketball camps. Jerome Kersey joined a statewide effort to put P.E. in all Oregon schools.

But no one had more fun this summer than our beloved “00,” Kevin Duckworth. We could always count on “Duck” in the community. He remained an All-Star at giving back, but the tour around the state was right up there as one of his best experiences off the court. Communities greeted Kevin with the same passion he received back in the early ‘90s. He is loved dearly in all corners of Oregon and beyond and will be remembered forever for his tremendous generosity and warm friendship. Rest In Peace Kevin Duckworth.