Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Feb. 14 – Oklahoma City Thunder players Kevin Durant, Lazar Hayward and Nick Collison will head out in the community Thursday afternoon.

Durant and Hayward are scheduled to visit Santa Fe South Elementary School and greet 75 students on board the Rolling Thunder Book Bus, presented by American Fidelity Assurance Company. The pair will help pick out a complimentary book for each student.

Later that afternoon, forward Nick Collison is scheduled to help provide a local family with a grocery shopping spree, courtesy of the Thunder and Homeland. The family has three children who will join in shopping with Collison. This event will be the third of four Homeland shopping sprees the Thunder will host this year.

New York and Washington, D.C., Feb. 13, 2012 – The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Special Olympics today announced the first-ever NBA Cares Special Olympics Unity Sports Basketball Game, which will take place as part of the 2012 NBA All-Star weekend festivities in Orlando. With support from The Coca-Cola Company, the game will tip off on Center Court at NBA All-Star Jam Session on Sunday, Feb. 26, and will feature 12 Special Olympics athletes from across the country, along with NBA Legends Chris Mullin, Clyde Drexler and Dikembe Mutombo, current WNBA players, and celebrities. NBA stars Kevin Durant, Kevin Love and Kemba Walker will also participate in the game.

The exhibition game will combine athletes with and without intellectual disabilities as teammates to showcase the power of Special Olympics’ Unified Sports® program, which helps unite communities and foster an environment of acceptance and inclusion. In addition, as part of the NBA Cares All-Star Community Caravan, NBA/WNBA legends and players will host a clinic for local Special Olympics athletes at Jam Session immediately following the game.

“The NBA is excited to expand our longtime partnership with Special Olympics by hosting the Unity Sports basketball game as part of our NBA All-Star festivities,” said NBA Senior Vice President of Community Relations Todd Jacobson. “The NBA Cares Special Olympics Unity Sports Basketball Game is about having fun, promoting fitness and bringing people together.”

“We are proud to have this unique opportunity to show the world the incredible talents of our Special Olympics athletes, playing alongside basketball legends from the NBA and WNBA,” said Peter Wheeler, Special Olympics’ Chief Officer of Strategic Properties. “This is another great moment in our long-standing partnership with the NBA and we hope that this Unity Sports basketball game shows NBA fans the power of sports to unite us all.”

NBA Cares Special Olympics Unity Sports Basketball Game roster:

East
Marc Campbell, ON
Keyuana Davis, FL
Kerri Gilroy, MA
Rickie Kelly, WI
Andre Larry, FL
Tony Payne, TN

West
Jesse Burnett, CO
Jackie Buxton, OR
Steve Lynn, OK
Anthony Nunn, MN
Sean Vigil, UT
Jennifer Wardlow, NC

These 12 Special Olympics athletes and their families will be treated to an unforgettable NBA All-Star experience including dinner with an NBA legend, in-arena recognition at NBA All-Star Saturday Night presented by State Farm, and tickets to the NBA All-Star Game.

The NBA’s global partnership with Special Olympics began more than 30 years ago when the league helped to introduce basketball as a new sport to the organization. The NBA has since provided sponsorship to Special Olympics basketball tournaments, created public service announcements featuring NBA players, and participated in major Special Olympics events. In addition, the NBA’s Basketball without Borders program has featured international clinics for Special Olympics athletes in China, Puerto Rico, Russia, France, Greece, Italy, Brazil, Spain, and Mexico.

About NBA Cares
NBA Cares is the league’s social responsibility program that builds on the NBA’s long tradition of addressing important social issues in the United States and around the world. Through this umbrella program, the NBA, its teams and players have donated than $175 million to charity, completed more than 1.8 million hours of hands-on community service, and created more than 675 places where kids and families can live, learn, or play, in 22 countries and territories on five continents. In addition, this year the league launched the NBA Cares Community Caravan, a year-round community and fan engagement program, through which the NBA family will reach more than 10,000 schools and community centers and touch the lives of more than 15 million fans. NBA Cares works with internationally recognized youth-serving programs that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes, including: KaBOOM!, Special Olympics, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, UNICEF, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis.

About Special Olympics
Special Olympics is an international organization that changes lives through the power of sport by encouraging and empowering people with intellectual disabilities, promoting acceptance for all, and fostering communities of understanding and respect worldwide. Founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the Special Olympics movement has grown from a few hundred athletes to more than 3.7 million athletes in over 170 countries in all regions of the world, providing year-round sports training, athletic competition and other related programs. Special Olympics now take place every day, changing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities all over the world, from community playgrounds and ball fields in every small neighborhood’s backyard to World Games. Special Olympics provides people with intellectual disabilities continuing opportunities to realize their potential, develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, and experience joy and friendship. Visit Special Olympics at www.specialolympics.org. Engage with us on: Twitter @specialolympics; fb.com/specialolympics; youtube.com/specialolympicshq, and specialolympicsblog.wordpress.com.

Well after the Thunder players and the families they were shopping with left Target on Tuesday, balloons from the team’s Holiday Assist event still floated around on the backs of shopping carts to go home with other guests.

But that is just a drop in the bucket of the long-lasting effects the team shopping spree will have on families throughout the community.

Ten families, all part of Sunbeam Family Services’ Grandparents Raising Grandchildren program, each had $1,000 to spend at the northwest Oklahoma City store to make their holiday wishes come true. And they each had some help spending it.

While Thunder Girls shopped with the grandparents, Thunder players took the children on a shopping spree like they never imagined.

This is the fourth year the Thunder has put on this event, and it has become a favorite holiday tradition for staff and players alike.

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Here are some highlights from KD’s OKC charity game. All-Stars such as LeBron James, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony also took part in the game.

OKLAHOMA CITY – While co-headliner Blake Griffin will no longer be able to participate due to an injury, host Kevin Durant announced the addition of seven more participants for the US Fleet Tracking Basketball Invitational, held Sunday, Oct. 23, at 6 p.m., inside the Cox Convention Center in downtown Oklahoma City.

“It is really unfortunate for the event that Blake will not be able to play,” said event spokesman Desmond Mason. “He is bummed out and obviously everyone wanted him to be here. We have roughly ten All-Stars on tap to play in the event and are moving forward. We have five more names to be announced that are top 50 players.”

Headlining the group of Wednesday’s added participants are LaMarcus Aldridge and Oklahoma City players Kendrick Perkins and James Harden. Other confirmed players include Jamal Crawford, Michael Beasley, Damien Wilkins and Johnny Flynn.

In total, the event features six former All-Stars who have played in a combined 24 NBA All-Star games. LeBron James, the two-time Most Valuable Player, leads all having played in seven of the 24. Amar’e Stoudemire stands second with six appearances. Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul have each played in four All-Star events. Two-time All-Star representative Durant and 2011 All-Star Westbrook round out the group.

“We are solidified on our celebrity judges, who we will announce tomorrow and are excited about the event,” added Mason. “It is going to be a wonderful event that is virtually sold out. Everyone is bummed about Blake, but as it pertains to the quality of players we have, one person does not dictate that. This is an opportunity for our fans to show the world that Oklahoma City is deserving of an All-Star bid in the future. Without the Hornets, Oklahoma City wouldn’t have had the opportunity to secure an NBA franchise and hopefully this event enables the city to be in consideration for future All-Star events.”

The game will be televised live on Cox (Cox cable channels 3 and 703) throughout the state of Oklahoma and online through The Basketball Channel (thebasketballchannel.net). Mike Wolfe and Rod Thompson will call the game for Cox while Desmond Mason fills in as a guest analyst.

A limited number of tickets still remain, starting at $29, and can be purchased through Ticketmaster.com, coxconventioncenter.com, the Cox Center Box Office, participating Homeland stores or by calling 1-800-745-3000. A portion of ticket proceeds and auctioned jersey sales will benefit non-profit groups that will be selected by Durant and Griffin.

Complete list of participants below
Kevin Durant
LeBron James
Amar’e Stoudemire
Russell Westbrook
Chris Paul
John Wall
Jeff Green
Rudy Gay
Lamarcus Aldridge
Jamal Crawford
Kendrick Perkins
James Harden
Michael Beasley
Damien Wilkins
Johnny Flynn

The Cox Center in downtown Oklahoma City will be the site for the USFleetTracking Basketball Invitational scheduled for October 23 at 6 p.m. NBA All Stars Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin will headline the event. The remainder of the game roster will be announced in the coming days.

Tickets, starting at $29, go on sale Monday at Noon at coxconventioncenter.com, the Cox Center Box Office, participating Homeland stores, or by calling 1-800-745-3000. A portion of ticket proceeds will benefit non-profit groups selected by the players.

On Friday, Jan. 7, Thunder players Kevin Durant and Morris Peterson will host a Thunder Fit clinic for nearly 60 students at Del Crest Middle School in southeast Oklahoma City. The visit is part of the 2011 NBA FIT Live Healthy Week and Durant is a member of the NBA Fit team.

The clinic will lead students through a series of exercises, strength training, nutrition lessons and basketball drills. The players will conclude the event with a question and answer session with the students.

On Tuesday the NBA family tipped off its annual NBA FIT Live Healthy Week, a week that encourages teams to join community members and partners to highlight the importance of healthy living and encourage fans to pledge NBA FIT. NBA players will also wear special oncourt attire, including adidas NBA FIT shooting shirts and blue headbands and wristbands.

This clinic is not open to the public, however media is invited.

This past Saturday KD surprised 120 foster children from Citizens Caring for Children with a Pizza party and Christmas gifts.

Each child received a Nike backpack filled with some of KD’s favorite things. The backpacks included a Nike sweatshirt, Skullcandy Headphones, a signed Kevin Durant Panini trading card, a larger signed photo of KD, an Apple iPod Shuffle and a $10 gift card to the Apple iTunes Store. Children under 8 years old received age appropriate toys instead of the Shuffle. Pizza and drinks were provided by Pizza Hut and Gatorade. The children also received an opportunity to shoot hoops and take pictures with KD.

KD also provided the Citizens Caring for Children with a new flat screen television, an XBox 360, a Nintendo Wii, and games for the kids.

When asked why he created this event KD said:

“As a kid, you really don’t know the significance of what Christmas really means except for getting gifts and being joyous around this time. So, I want them to feel special. Hopefully, this is something that they’re always going to remember for the rest of their lives. I’m happy to say I was a part of that.”

There’s no doubt that KD accomplished his goal with the event, as it was something that all the kids from Citizens Caring for Children are going to remember for the rest of their lives. A special thanks to all that contributed to the event.

Check out some photos from the event below.

Here’s an article on the event from the Associated Press.

More photos from the event HERE.

Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Kevin Durant hosts a holiday celebration for 120 foster children from Citizens Caring for Children. The boys and girls will enjoy an afternoon filled of surprises including a pizza party provided by Pizza Hut, games, shooting hoops and face painting. Each child will receive a Nike backpack loaded with KD’s favorite things: an iPod shuffle, iTunes gift card, Skullcandy headphones and Nike gear. Kevin will also present Citizens Caring for Children with a new flat screen television, an Xbox 360 console, a Nintendo Wii system and games for the facility’s “BEAR Cave” activity room.

WHEN: Saturday, December 18, 3:00-5:00pm

WHERE: All Souls Episcopal Church
Christian Family Life Center Gymnasium
6404 North Pennsylvania Avenue
Nichols Hills, OK. 73116
405-842-1461
(The gym is located north of the church)

MEDIA: The event is closed to the public, but open for media coverage. Please note due to DHS policy and for the protection of the children, only side and back view photographs are permitted.

Citizens Caring for Children: Breaks the cycle of abuse and neglect for Oklahoma foster children by addressing their material, emotional, intellectual and spiritual needs because every child deserves the chance for a better life. Citizens Caring for Children provides programs to promote self-worth, self-esteem and develop character to give hope, change lives and create healthy futures.

KD has been participating in Degree Men’s Chain of Adventure challenge with stars such as Bear Grylls, Tony Hawk, Mark Messier and Mark Sanchez. As part of the Chain of Adventure promotion, KD brought a Degree Men Alley-Oop challenge event to Oklahoma City. KD’s been vocal about his endorsement partners bringing events to OKC, so this event was just a preview of what KD has in store for his local fans. Check out the videos from the event below:

Continue reading Video From Kevin Durant’s Degree Men Alley-Oop Challenge in OKC