Damian Lillard Among Finalists for 2020-21 NBA Cares Community Assist Award
Damian Lillard, Joel Embiid and Devin Booker are among the 10 finalists for the 2020-21 NBA Cares Community Assist Award.
The NBA will formally announce the finalists later Tuesday.
Russell Westbrook, Donovan Mitchell, Jrue Holiday, Josh Richardson, Patty Mills, Larry Nance Jr. and DeAndre' Bembry are also finalists. The NBA Cares award is given to the player who best represents his community through charitable efforts off the court.
The winner will be selected by a combination of a fan vote and an NBA executive panel. Fans can begin voting for their favorite athlete at noon ET Tuesday and continue voting through Saturday, June 19, at 11:59 p.m. ET. Voting can be placed via the Jebbit app, which allows fans to view videos of the players in their communities, or on Twitter using the #NBACommunityAssist hashtag and hashtagging the player's first and last name or posting their username.
The finalists are based on the six regular-season NBA Cares monthly award winners, the offseason winner and three additional nominees.
Holiday, who made headlines along with Lauren Holiday, his wife, for donating $5.3 million of his salary to Black-owned businesses and non-profits last season, won the joint January honor by working with the Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corporation to identify Black-owned businesses in need of assistance. Richardson also won in January for his COVID-19 relief efforts.
Mills won the February award for his work in founding Indigenous Basketball Australia, which launched its first 14-and-under league this year. March's award went to Embiid for his work donating $100,000 to organizations helping the homeless in Philadelphia.
Lillard (April) continues his work with RESPECT, which benefits three Portland-area schools, and Booker (May) once again donated $500,000 to organizations in Phoenix through his Devin Booker Starting Five initiative.
Mitchell won the offseason award for his donation of $12 million to Greenwich Country Day School, his alma mater, and a longstanding commitment to improving education.
Bembry, Nance and Westbrook were the additional selections.
Bembry has made a commitment to helping stop gun violence since the 2016 killing of his brother, founding the AP World organization, which helps create safer communities and provides help to families impacted by gun violence. Nance raised $222,000 for 72 small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic by auctioning off game-worn jerseys. Westbrook, who previously won the seasonlong award in 2014-15, launched the Russell Westbrook Why Not? Academy in his native Los Angeles that serves to provide better educational opportunities and recreational activities in the community.
A $25,000 donation will be made on behalf of the winner to an organization of their choosing.
