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Elfrid Payton Named 2016-17 Rich and Helen DeVos Community Enrichment Award Winner

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

By John Denton
March 25, 2017

ORLANDO – On the basketball court, Elfrid Payton has become a master of the triple-double, racking up four of them this season and seven for his career – both records in Orlando Magic history.

Off the court, Payton has spent much of his free time racking up triple-doubles of a different, but equally important kind. Whether it’s greeting terminally ill children to brighten their days, giving away backpacks to kids in need or simply volunteering his time and money, Payton has proven himself to be a major difference-maker in the Central Florida community.

Payton’s generous efforts off the court earned him the prestigious Rich and Helen DeVos Community Enrichment Award for the 2016-17 season. A night after his spectacular 14-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist performance in the Magic’s 115-87 drubbing of the Detroit Pistons, Payton was presented with the DeVos Community Enrichment Award at the 27th annual Orlando Magic Youth Foundation (OMYF) Black Tie & Tennies Gala held at the Amway Center.

It is the first time Payton has won the award after being named a finalist last year. The other finalists for this year’s award were Magic center Nikola Vucevic, center Bismack Biyombo and forward Jeff Green.

The OMYF annually honors a player who has dedicated his efforts off the court for the purpose of enhancing the lives of others. A panel of representatives selects the winner of the Community Enrichment Award. In addition to receiving the award, Payton will be granted $50,000 from the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation to donate to the charity of his choice.

Past winners of the award include Nick Anderson (1995-1996), Penny Hardaway (1996-1997), Darrell Armstrong (1997-1998, 1999-2000), Grant Hill (2000-2001), Monty Williams (2001-2002), Tracy McGrady (2002-2003), Pat Garrity (2003-2004), Bo Outlaw (1998-1999, 2005-2006, 2006-2007), Dwight Howard (2004-05, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12), J.J. Redick (2011-12), Jameer Nelson (2012-13), Tobias Harris (2013-14; 2014-15, co-winner with Oladipo), Victor Oladipo (2014-15, co-winner with Harris; 2015-16) and Payton (2016-17).

Payton, a third-year pro, has played the best basketball of his career of late, notching four triple-doubles in the past 10 games. He had 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists on March 1 against New York. He then had triple-doubles in consecutive games for the second time in his career on March 6 (16 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists) and March 8 (22 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists).

Friday night’s triple-double, accomplished in just three quarters of work, gave him seven for his career. That is twice as many triple-doubles as any player in Magic history.

Off the court, Payton has been just as impressive. He has consistently volunteered his time to the Central Florida community by supporting the Magic’s mission to be World Champions on and off the court delivering legendary moments every step of the way. In addition to supporting the Magic’s initiatives and implementing his own, Payton has assisted the Orlando Magic Youth Foundation and the NBA in their community goals as well.

Here are some of the highlights of Payton’s community involvement for the 2016-17 season:

  • Payton has been extremely active through his foundation, developing a 10-week arts program for fifth graders to expose them to poetry, music, dance and painting. At program’s conclusion, Payton hosted a special showcase for all students to present their favorite works and discuss what they learned in the program.
  • He took 30 local youth on a cultural field trip to learn about local African-American history.
  • He hosted ``Elf’s Toy Workshop,’’ which provided 100 underserved kids and families with toys and books and a party over the Christmas holidays.
  • He held a Back to School backpack giveaway, providing more than 700 students with supply-filled backpacks before school started.
  • He helped a youth basketball player and family from his home state of Louisiana during the Baton Rouge flood with clothing and food.
  • He provided a free basketball clinic for more than 300 underserved kids.
  • He donated to the ``Share the Magic’’ ticket program and sponsored 1,200 tickets for local youth to attend Magic games.
  • He served breakfast to Coalition for the Homeless residents on Thanksgiving morning. Payton wasn’t originally scheduled to attend the event, but came out of the kindness of his heart to try and bring smiles to the faces of those in need.
  • He took 100 local youth from Boys & Girls Clubs on a holiday shopping spree.
  • He led basketball clinics through NBA All-Star Weekend in his hometown of New Orleans and locally in Orlando to unveil a newly refurbished basketball court at a local elementary school.
  • He greets terminally ill children before games in support of the ``Magic Maker’’ program.

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