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Clippers Make Day To Remember For Hal Hargrave

Rowan Kavner

LOS ANGELES – During the middle of Doc Rivers’ pregame press conference Saturday morning, the Clippers’ head coach turned to his right to see if Hal Hargrave had anything to ask.

The 25-year-old asked one question, then later another and another. It made sense, considering his aspirations of becoming a sports broadcaster. That dream began after a life-altering automobile accident in 2007, which left Hargrave in a wheelchair and paralyzed from the neck down.

Seven years ago, Hargrave was set on going to Cal State Long Beach to try to walk-on to the baseball team. After the traumatic accident, his dreams may have changed, but his drive hasn’t. Since the accident, Hargrove built relationships and made it a quest to help those unable to help themselves in situations similar to his.

He began the Be Perfect Foundation, which provides scholarships for activity-based therapy to qualified recipients and provides funds to those who can’t afford to pay their deductibles or their general medical needs.

“It’s a big part of my life,” Hargrave said. “I would tell just about anybody, it’s something that gets me up in the morning, something I live for.”

Hargrave said he had to reevaluate his life and seek a different route after the accident. He was living at home and going to the University of La Verne, where he’s set to graduate this spring.

“I was going to therapy in the local area, visiting a lot of patients in the hospital, getting exposed to the ins and outs of the medical world, the spinal cord injury world,” Hargrave said. “I saw a lot of the shortfalls and a lot of the bad things and the gruesome parts of this injury, beyond just the physical limitations.

“I met people who were left bankrupt, I met families who were left broken. I think after doing so, I started realizing the expenses that come along with this injury.”

At one point, Hargrave met a man who couldn’t attend therapy anymore if we wanted to feed his family.

“In just the short time I’d dealt with my injury, I’d been so fortunate to be able to have the means to go to therapy, to live a social life, to live an active life, to do the things I wanted to do,” Hargrave said. “I met a lot of people that couldn’t, so I basically went to my parents and said, ‘I think this is what I’m called to do. I really thing I’ve been put in a position to help others. I think this is the true reason behind all of this.’” That’s when Hargrave decided to pursue the foundation.

“Here we are, seven years later, we’ve raised over $2.5 million to help people with spinal cord injuries,” Hargrave said. “Our network keeps growing, that number keeps on growing of fundraising dollars. We’re headed in all the right directions to help and reach out more and more.”

The Clippers had Hargrave not only attend Saturday’s game against the Raptors, but also participate in the pre-game conference.

“I wound up here on a great Saturday afternoon, and just a lot of great people to thank, and still excited to see what else it has in store for me,” Hargrave said. “Thus far, I got to talk to Doc Rivers, be here on his press conference and really see what it’s like to be, obviously a media personnel, but even just be a bystander and a spectator. It’s been such a surreal experience just 30 minutes in.”

Hargrave would go on to spend the game in Section 111 with Brian Sieman and Isaac Lowenkron, watching the game with the radio broadcast crew. Hargrave said he considers himself a sports junkie and wants to learn something every day about the sports business.

He said the accident made him question his true interests in life. He realized speaking was a route he wanted to pursue, and Hargrave’s done public speaking in the local area. He said he overcame the fear of any judgment.

“It kind of opened myself up to the fact that, ‘OK, maybe I can take my sports knowledge a step further by taking those opinions and putting them to practice, being behind the camera, being on the camera, whatever it may be,’” Hargrave said. “I started just getting my feet wet at school, getting my hands on anything I could broadcast, whether it be women’s volleyball, men and women’s soccer, men and women’s basketball, softball, baseball. I’ve just immersed myself in that the past year and a half, and I felt like maybe this really is my calling.

“I’m pursuing it as hard as I can…At this point in my life, I’m where I need to be.”