Onyeka Okongwu is the recipient of November’s NBA Cares Bob Lanier Group Help Award, which is given out each month to these gamers who’re continuously giving again to the folks. Anybody near the basketball league is aware of that they’d be nothing with out the followers.
The Atlanta athlete has partnered with many native organizations that present assist to those that have been coping with the lack of family members. Additionally, the 24-year-old has been donating Hawks’ tickets, gear and merchandise to the neighborhood.
Now that the massive man will obtain the David Robinson trophy, he’s determined together with the NBA that they’ll donate $10k to a company known as Kate’s Membership, which is devoted to kids’s empowerment following the demise of a member of the family.
Onyeka Okongwu has been named the NBA Cares Bob Lanier Group Help Award winner for the month of November.
Congratulations @BigO21_ ! pic.twitter.com/Wqqc2pkzFY
— HawksMuse (@MuseHawk) December 23, 2024
Okongwu has skilled the lack of household and pals, which is why supporting others throughout this time of grief is specifically necessary to him. Simply when he was 13-years of age, his older brother Nnamdi handed away in a tragic skateboarding incident. The athlete has at all times stated that he performs within the NBA to honor his late sibling.
Nonetheless, his struggles with demise don’t cease there, as Onyeka suffered the passing of his father Mike throughout his sophomore marketing campaign. The subsequent 2022-23 season, his shut good friend Daniel died.
“Shedding a beloved one could be arduous, and I do know that from first-hand expertise. I’ve been lucky to search out organizations who’re doing the necessary work of serving to folks work by their grief – one thing that I want I had alongside my journey,” he stated after receiving the award. “It’s an honor for me associate with Kate’s Membership and Camp STARS of their efforts. I stay up for persevering with to make an impression on this space.”
As November was Kids’s Grief Consciousness Month, it served as the proper alternative for the Atlanta star to associate with Visiting Nurse Well being System and supported their Camp STARS, which produce an annual retreat in Georgia. Onyeka shared welcome letters with every camper, lectured on expertise with loss, and taught coping mechanisms.
