Sunday on ABC: Oprah's Big Give (9 ET)



On Sunday, Joe and Gavin Maloof will appear on Oprah’s Big Give, the red hot ABC primetime show that airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET. The Big Give appearance is a natural for the Maloofs, who have more than demonstrated their philanthropic touch ever since purchasing the Kings nine years ago, donating more than $13 million dollars to various Sacramento-area charities. John Hareas spoke with Joe and Gavin about Giving Big and Oprah’s NBA team loyalties.

NBA.com: How did you get involved with Oprah’s Big Give?

Gavin: We have been on Oprah before so we had a contact with one of their Chief Executive Officers, John, contacted Troy Hanson, our media relations director and asked if we wanted to be involved in the show and we didn’t hesitate and said absolutely yes.


NBA.com: How much will you be donating on the show?

Gavin: First of all there are 10 contestants. During our episode the show is whittled down to seven contestants and to each contestant we give $100,000. So that’s $700,000 we’re giving to the contestants. Then their task is to go out and affect the lives of as many people as possible each of them with the $100,000 within 24 hours to pay it forward. It’s absolutely incredible what happens and how many people’s lives they affect. It’s just incredible.

NBA.com: What kind of lasting impressions did this experience have on you?

Joe: Gavin and I and the family have always believed that throughout our lives that the most important thing is giving back to the community and giving back to people because we’ve been so blessed. Oprah’s Big Give provided us another opportunity to really affect people in need and it was a great experience for us. I’ll tell you, I’ve never felt the affection that we received from the people that we helped. It was an incredible feeling, amazing.


NBA.com: Talk about the concept of the show and how worthwhile it is in terms of impacting so many lives.

Gavin: The concept of the show is to pay it forward, not to take and not to accept, but to give. When you give, eventually down the road, you receive. Probably at the end of the series they’ll tally up how many millions of dollars that the Oprah show has given away and it will be astounding. Not only the number of dollars they’ve been giving away, but the number of lives that have been affected.


Joe: Another thing is that when you really look at it, not many people have been able to hold $100,000 in cash in their lives. These seven people that we gave the $100,000 to, they’ve never felt anything like that in their lives. What they had to do with that $100,000 is not keep it, but give that out and have them do something with it. It becomes amazing what happens.


NBA.com: What impresses you the most about Oprah?

Gavin: Probably her generosity, the size of her heart, and what she wants to do with others. She’s probably one of the greatest persons that I’ve ever met. She’s just a giving person. I think what she’s actually trying to do with the show is to create a movement about giving. That’s the purpose of this show, to change people’s mindsets. Instead of taking and receiving, but now to give.


NBA.com: Both of you will also appear on the Oprah show this Monday, which will be your second appearance. How much are you looking forward to that?

Gavin: Joe: We’re very excited about that. There aren’t very many people that get to appear on Oprah when you think about it. So, you know you’ve probably done something good.


NBA.com: Will you primarily be talking about your Big Give appearance or other topics?

Gavin: Primarily about the show, but I think what is great for us is that we’re owners of the NBA and I think we’ve been a good role model and set the standards for the NBA as far as what the NBA is about, which is caring and giving back and that's what we’ve always been about and we’re proud to represent the NBA on Oprah and we think it will help the league


NBA.com: Do you guys ever talk hoops with Oprah?

Gavin: We’re actually going to be giving her a Kings jersey. I don’t know if she’s a Kings fan because she lives in Chicago, she might be a Bulls fan, but that’s all right. We'll give here a Kings jersey. I’d like to talk some basketball with her. If she brings it, sure, we’d love to talk about the NBA.