Rowan Kavner
LOS ANGELES – It wasn’t just one or two Clippers players giving back to the community this weekend.
Head coach Doc Rivers and the entire Clippers roster spent time Saturday at the Salvation Army Siemon Family Youth & Community Center handing out boxes of food and Vita CoCo, personal care items, school uniforms and shoes to 1,600 South Los Angeles families.
The Feed The Community and PlayStation Hoops for Troops Service Project, put on by the Los Angeles Clippers Foundation and Feed The Children, had an even more special meaning to Paul considering his connection to the location.
The Clippers NBA Cares Feed The Community event sponsored by Vita Coco, which included our commitment to service through NBA Hoops for Troops proudly sponsored PlayStation, had an even more special meaning to Paul considering his connection to the location.
“I actually came here right before the season started as a partner with The Clippers Foundation, and we donated a learning facility with computers and a little fitness area,” Paul said. “This particular place holds a special place to me, because this is the first place I came once I was traded here from New Orleans. There’s so many great kids here and it’s always great to be around it.”
Rivers said the team’s connection to the city is important and something the team wants to do better at recognizing. That’s something Rivers said owner Steve Ballmer talked about from the day he took over.
“We don’t want to just play for the community,” Rivers said. “We want to be a part of it. We want to join in and do what we can to help.
“I love it. I just like being involved. When you join into a community, you should join into the community. I preach that to my players, and I have to practice what I preach.”
The Clippers’ head coach said the players might actually feel better doing the event than the people accepting the help. He said any helping hand can bring up the morale in a family and lead to a more confident, happier situation.
“For some, it just allows them to have a better day,” Rivers said. “Some will become Clipper fans. And we don’t even care if they do or not. We just want to help. We all need help. When you see people coming out to help your community, you feel better about your community.”
Paul said no one can know what every particular family is going through. What the team can do is recognize the importance of the Clippers’ connection to those families and the community.
“You’re only as good as your fans and everybody behind you,” Paul said. “I think we understand that as a team. You know, the fans, it’s no secret, have really stuck by us through the good times and obviously the bad times. We’re very appreciative of it.”
Blake Griffin said participating in the event and seeing the reaction on people’s faces and how thankful they are is something that never gets old and never gets taken for granted.
It’s also something Mortimer Jones, the executive director of the Salvation Army Siemon Family Youth & Community Center, loves to see. He said it always means so much to see the turnout and the families come out for the event.
It means a lot to Jones that many of the people who helped were repeat volunteers, and he described it as amazing to have the Clippers come out.
“I said to someone, so, the Clippers are one of the hottest teams in the NBA today,” Jones said. “We partner up with the U.S. Army, and then you partner up with the Salvation Army, the largest non-profit in the world, I mean we can move mountains, really. That’s an amazing combination to be able to do that.”
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