Hornets Believe: Paul, Chase Donate $1 Million to NOLA Afterschool Program
By: Jim Eichenhofer, Hornets.com
October 28, 2010
Over his six-year NBA career, Hornets All-Star point guard Chris Paul has received countless compliments about the way he carries himself away from the basketball floor. Among all of those accolades, few probably meant as much to Paul as the one he received Thursday, Oct. 28, from Basketball Hall of Fame center and NBA legend David Robinson, one of the sport’s greatest ambassadors.
“We all admire what Chris Paul does on the court,” Robinson said at an event in Central City New Orleans that launched a ground-breaking afterschool program for young students. “We should admire just as much what he does in the community… There really aren’t a lot of athletes you want to point your children to and say, ‘Be like that guy.’ But I have three teenage boys, and I point to (Paul). So thanks for what you do, Chris.”
The 7-foot Robinson – Sports Illustrated’s prestigious Sportsman of the Year recipient in 2003 – was one of the guests of honor at Thursday’s ceremony, held at the KIPP Central City Primary School on Thalia Street. The school is located about a mile from the New Orleans Arena, close enough that you can see the south side of the Hive while standing near school grounds.
During the event, Paul and Chase announced a donation of $500,000 apiece to the brand-new “CP3 Afterschool Zone” for Central City children in New Orleans. The program will be free of charge to young students and provide them with a wide range of afterschool activities, including help with homework, art, music and sports.
The program is also a continuation of the relationship that Robinson and Paul have developed since Paul began his NBA career in 2005. Paul admires Robinson’s extensive community work benefiting children in the city of San Antonio, where Robinson has donated over $10 million of his own money to build and maintain The Carver Academy.
“I don’t see Mr. Robinson as a basketball player (now),” Paul said admiringly. “I see him as a mentor. I always want to pull him aside and learn different things from him, because what he did in his hometown is unbelievable.”
For his part, Robinson has enjoyed spending time talking with Paul about ways the 25-year-old can make contributions to the people of New Orleans. Since retiring from the NBA in 2003, Robinson has often been approached by businesses to help pinpoint well-known athletes and musicians who can help contribute to worthy causes such as the afterschool program.
“(When I was asked) to find a group of athletes as entertainers, as many people as I can find who are making quality investments in communities,” Robinson said, “one of the first people I thought about was Chris Paul.”
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO DAVID ROBINSON'S SPEECH
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