The other day, I noticed someone on my Twitter feed complaining that it’s not ESPN’s and cable news’ fault that all we want is bad news and controversy reported to us. And I thought, “Hold on, I don’t want that. Who wants that? People who want that suck”, and so on and so forth. I guess it’s kind of true, and I really just don’t want to believe that there are sick people who are so miserable with their own lives that they can only feel better by watching other people suffer. That’s probably why Andre Johnson’s amazing act of kindness last week went largely unnoticed. Because it wasn’t sexy or scandalous.
Well screw that, because we like good stories about good athletes, so with that, Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul is our Super Cool Athlete of the Week because he took a trip home to Winston-Salem yesterday to donate time and money to local kids so they could spoil themselves with toys. Teaming up with fellow Wake Forest alum Josh Howard (who couldn’t attend, but he’s still cool), Paul gave 100 gift cards valued at $100 to 100 at-risk kids, and by my Florida education I believe that comes out to $6 trillion.
“The best thing about today is I actually get to be here,” Paul said. “Everything that I’ve done, I’ve always tried to be as hands on as possible. It’s a tradition for Josh and me.
“This is home for me. The thing about the holidays is everybody isn’t as fortunate as they’d like to be. It’s cool to give back and I love to see the smiles on the kids’ faces. It’s not about me, it’s all about the kids.” (Via Wake Forest Magazine)
Not only did he give the kids gift cards, but he also spoke with them before sending them on their sprees about the importance of sharing, as he encouraged them to use some of the money on their cards to buy presents for their brothers and sisters.
And when asked what he wants for Christmas, Paul told the Wake Forest publication that he simply wants his family with him for the holiday, which is a little difficult because the Clippers are playing on Christmas. Did I say difficult? I meant easy, because he’s just going to fly 35 of his family members to L.A. And to think I have a hard time calling my mom each week.
In addition to the gift cards, the kids also received free t-shirts for the special event, and I had to include this because I just love Josh Howard’s nickname too much.