NBA

To say everything is a bit different these days is an understatement. But the NBA is doing everything it can to make things feel normal.

The Special Olympics movement is driven by our volunteers with more than 1.1 million donating their time and expertise. Andy Grammer, triple-platinum singer/songwriter, stepped up this year as a volunteer coach for the 2020 NBA Cares Special Olympics Unified Basketball Game.

Every year, for the past nine years, a select group of talented Special Olympics athletes and basketball superstars past and present, form two teams, lace up and battle it out in the NBA Cares Special Olympics Unified Basketball Game!

Twelve Special Olympics All-star athletes will be on the same teams as some of the NBA’s finest players, including NBA legends, active and former WNBA players and celebrity figures.

This year’s annual NBA Cares Special Olympics Unified basketball game during NBA All-Star weekend was full of fun, talent and excitement. Special Olympics assembled 12 international players to gather in Charlotte, NC to represent their countries, cities and a global movement of inclusion. The players were broken up into two teams of five Special Olympics athletes, with intellectual disabilities. Each team was joined by four international sport celebrities without intellectual disabilities to create a “home” and an “away” team for the Unified basketball game.

Once again, the power of unity will shine on center court at the NBA Cares Special Olympics Unified Basketball Game during NBA All-Star weekend.

This diverse group of accomplished athletes—including four individuals competing in Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019—will tip-off in an inclusive game with NBA and WNBA legends and players on February 15.

NBA legend, Sam Perkins, flew into Europe to celebrate European Basketball Week 2018 with Special Olympics athletes in Estonia and he had a very clear message: go out and have fun!

Before he was an All-Star center for the NBA’s Detroit Pistons, Andre Drummond faced bullying and rejection as a child.

Serbian Special Olympics athlete Saska Vuijicic flew to Los Angeles for the NBA Cares All-Star Weekend! Read about her adventure.