NBA Helps Rebuild Sandy-Damaged Basketball Courts On Staten Island
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- NBA All-Star Week is being held in New York this coming February with both the Knicks and Nets hosting.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he wanted festivities leading up to the event that will make a difference in the community, 1010 WINS' Sonia Rincon reported.
"And that meant coming to the borough of Staten Island to rebuild this playground," Silver said.
NBA Helps Rebuild Sandy-Damaged Basketball Courts On Staten Island
The old basketball courts in Midland Beach were ravaged by Hurricane Sandy.
Some of the first players in the brand new courts were stars of the NBA and WNBA, who put on a basketball clinic for the kids, Rincon reported.
Players Association chief Michele Roberts said pro athletes do serve as positive role models when they work with the community.
"And I think it does say to those naysayers that say athletes are folks that don't really care once they get paid that they're wrong and this is clearly evidence of that," she said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio was also on hand at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the basketball courts.
"Because a lot of people believe in you and want to see you succeed," he said to the kids before the clinic.
Roberts, who is from the Bronx, said the clinic is a tradition that brought back memories for her.
"When members of the Knicks would come to Melrose and come to the basketball courts and give clinics," she said. "Watching the eyes of my older brothers for example as they watch these players come back was important."
The Midland Beach basketball court restoration was the first of a season of events that will lead up to NBA All-Star Week.
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