How — and why — Sixers players are giving back to the community: ‘Growing up, I was in those kids’ position’
Adem Bona, Ricky Council IV, and more have participated in off-court programs geared at reducing violence in Philadelphia.
The Sixers are turning on-court assists into real-world impact with their Assists for Safe Communities program. For each assist this season, the Sixers are donating $76 toward grassroots violence prevention programs in collaboration with Penn Medicine.
The team also hosted a few player-driven events, with those local organizations — including Power of Paint, Shoot Basketballs NOT People, Young Chances Foundation, and New Leash on Life — receiving donations.
One group of students went on a “Freedom Ride” with the Young Chances Foundation, taking a tour of Philadelphia ending at Cliveden of the National Trust with Sixers rookie Adem Bona. The Young Chances Foundation is based in Grays Ferry and provides urban children with programming and the resources to “produce safety, reduce teen violence, and alleviate neighborhood tensions within the community.”
“Growing up, I was in those kids’ position,” Bona said. “I grew up in Nigeria, and I started playing basketball as a hobby. The Young Chances Foundation gives the kids opportunity to get off the streets and gives them the ability to learn new hobbies. … It could be something else, it could be any hobby they pick up to be able to help get those kids to realize things they like. I think that’s big for me, because someone helped me realize mine, and if I can help them, that’d be great.”
The highlight of Bona’s day was one of the students giving him a wristband, and another calling him “the coolest basketball player ever,” but he and the group also learned about the history of black Philadelphians and the city as a whole.
Another group visited the Sixers training facility for a basketball clinic with Sixers training staff and guard Ricky Council IV. Shoot Basketballs NOT People, a basketball-based charity in Northwest Philadelphia, brought a group of students age 10-16 to the Camden facility. The group did a circuit in the Sixers’ weight room before moving on to a few basketball drills. They then played a game of knockout — and one of the students beat Council in the final two.
“I let him win,” Council joked. “I heard that they really wanted to play basketball, and I heard that some of them were talented, so I was expecting that couple of them would have some nice looking shots, and I ended up losing. But like I said, I let them win.”
The event also featured a yoga session and a nutrition class. One of the goals of the organization is to show kids other pathways into pro sports, besides just playing in the NBA or WNBA, according to founder Garry Mills. Council said yoga and stretching were things he didn’t take as seriously until getting to the NBA, and that he’s glad to see the younger generation working on it now.
The Sixers also hosted a Power of Paint event with Reggie Jackson before he was traded earlier this month, where students got to express themselves through painting, and hosted a number of foster dogs from New Leash on Life at their Camden practice facility.
And with 1,326 assists so far this season, the team has now raised over $100,000 for the Assists for Safe Communities program.