The National Basketball Association Celebrates Lifesaving Work of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital® During Hoops for St. Jude™ Week

MEMPHIS, Tenn., April 3, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The NBA family will once again come together during Hoops for St. Jude Week™ April 3-9 to raise awareness of  St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's^® lifesaving work and celebrate the league's long-standing support of the world-class hospital. The support of NBA stars, coaches, broadcasters and fans helps St. Jude continue leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

Hoops for St. Jude Week™ highlights the work and successes of St. Jude through online, social media and in-game promotions, such as hosting and highlighting local patients in-arena. NBA coaches and national sports broadcasters will also wear St. Jude lapel pins to show solidarity during games. Fans can get involved by becoming a St. Jude Fan for Life, and be automatically entered to win one of 30 team jerseys autographed by NBA stars. Supporters are encouraged to watch and share the fun videos created by campaign supporters Kyle Lowry (Toronto Raptors), Gordon Hayward (Utah Jazz) and Vince Carter (Memphis Grizzlies) highlighting the St. Jude Fan for Life campaign.

St. Jude ambassadors – players and coaches who contribute to and regularly visit the hospital and encourage fans to support patients, and their families at St. Jude – will also use their social media channels, personal appearances and interviews to help raise awareness of St. Jude and its mission to save the lives of children battling cancer and other life-threatening diseases.  

"The support of the entire NBA family means the world to everyone at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital – whether players and coaches are visiting with patients or the team and NBA leadership are working to raise awareness of our work; this is a truly amazing partnership," said Richard Shadyac Jr., CEO of ALSAC/St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

NBA support stretches beyond Hoops for St. Jude Week. Just this season, the hospital has hosted on-site visits by players, coaches and staff from the Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Milwaukee Bucks, New Orleans Pelicans, Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings, Toronto Raptors, and Utah Jazz.

The players' support – both financial and celebrity – helps in multiple ways. It will cost $885 million to run St. Jude in 2015, and 75 percent of those funds will be raised through individual contributions, with an average donation of just $34.Thanks to support generated through campaigns like Hoops for St. Jude Week, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.

Player visits are an important part of the NBA relationship, and never fail to brighten the day of St. Jude patients, like Adam and Nick, who both have a passion for basketball, and had a special visit with Grizzlies players Mike Conley and Marc Gasol in the St. Jude Teen Room. Both patients smiled ear-to-ear while sharing stories from the court and playing video games with the NBA stars.

For more information, visit stjude.org/hoops, follow @StJude on Twitter or show your support by becoming a St. Jude Fan for Life.

Ambassadors for the 2015 Hoops for St. Jude Week are:

• Mike Conley, Memphis Grizzlies
• Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies
• Pau Gasol, Chicago Bulls
• David Lee, Golden State Warriors
• Kevin Love, Cleveland Cavaliers
• Greg Monroe, Detroit Pistons
• Coach Monty Williams, New Orleans Pelicans

Editor's Note:
Interviews, Hoops for St. Jude ambassador quotes, b-roll, video and photos available upon request.

About St. Jude Children's Research Hospital^®
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. St. Jude has the world's best survival rates for some of the most aggressive childhood cancers, and treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to 80 percent since we opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90 percent in the next decade. St. Jude freely shares the breakthroughs we make, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. Join the St. Jude mission by visiting stjude.org or following St. Jude on facebook.com/stjude and twitter.com/stjude.

About NBA Cares
NBA Cares is the league's global social responsibility program that builds on the NBA's mission of addressing important social issues in the United States and around the world.  Through this program, the NBA, its teams and players have donated more than $230 million to charity, completed more than 2.8 million hours of hands-on community service, and created more than 860 places where kids and families can live, learn, or play, in 25 countries and territories on five continents.  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, Share Our Strength and GLAAD.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150403/196501
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150403/196500

SOURCE St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Related Links

http://www.stjude.org/

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