addByline("Zach Rosen", "WashingtonWizards.com", "ZacharySRosen");
When Bradley Beal won the 2018-19 NBA Cares Community Assist Award, he promised that his partnership with Ron Brown College Preparatory High School (RBHS) would not be a one-year commitment. He has kept his word, furthering his relationship with the school and continuing to make an impact on an all-boys high school that reminds him of his own Chaminade High School in St. Louis.
So far this season, Beal has put part of the $25,000 charitable donation from winning the Community Assist Award to a great cause. In addition to donating hundreds of tickets to RBHS, Beal has sponsored buses for college tours for students. In November, students went on tours at Virginia State University, Salisbury University, and Lincoln University. Later this season, Beal will attend one of the tours, furthering his partnership with the high school into tangible actions.
After last season’s holiday surprise, in which Beal gifted the Ron Brown varsity and junior varsity basketball players and coaches with two pairs of shoes, the two-time All-Star had a tough act to follow.
On Tuesday, Beal hosted a dinner at Carmine’s in Chinatown, looking to make another impact this holiday season.
Beal hosted 20 students – the 10 top student athletes and 10 other top performing students – as well as four staff members, including Principal Benjamin Williams. Taj Davis and Makhi Daye, the two students who went to the 2018-19 NBA Awards with Beal, were in attendance.
After dinner, Beal surprised the Young Kings of RBHS with holiday gifts consisting of “Bradley’s Favorite Things.” Included in the box of what Beal called his essentials were either To Kill a Mockingbird, one of his favorite books, or Just Mercy, the story of social justice and lawyer Bryan Stevenson and the movie the Wizards just saw in Detroit. The rest of the gifts: a Nike gift card, four tickets to the December 30 game against the Heat, a Beal jersey that he would sign for all of them, a sketch book, colored pencils set, and a Wizards lanyard.
But that wasn’t everything.
While the kids were opening their boxes and gushing over their holiday gifts, Beal and his wife, Kamiah, came with an even bigger gift for all 20 of the students. The couple handed each of the students an Apple bag with an iPad, and the students went wild. Beal and the RBHS faculty on hand noted to the students in attendance that they had no excuses not to get in their college applications now with their new iPads.
“This means a lot to me probably more so than them to see their reaction and see how grateful they are,” Beal said after the students opened up their gifts. “I challenged them in the classroom last year; a lot of them have changed their grades around tremendously and are in this room tonight. It’s special for everybody for sure.”
More plans remain for the season, but Beal is careful to disclose them.
“I definitely always have something up my sleeve for them,” he said. “I’m just constantly staying engaged with them. Keep the relationship going. This school in particular is definitely special to me.”