NBA Cares: 20 Years of Community Impact through Basketball

Hello, NBA fans and sports lovers! Have you heard of “NBA Cares”? The NBA Cares strives to connect players, teams, and the league with their community through the power of basketball on and off the court. As it has been 20th years for NBA Cares this year, I want to showcase how the NBA Cares’ initiatives and their impact, based on a meeting with the NBA Cares in October.

All the information is officially approved by the NBA Crares.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgment for the NBA Cares

In terms of writing this article, I would like to appreciate all the support from the NBA Cares, commencing with Ms. Annie Horn, who kindly attended a meeting, and the NBA Japan, who helped me reach the NBA Cares. I hope to be part of the contribution by sharing the social impact of the NBA and spreading the value of sports beyond the court.

Importance of discussing this topic: Community Engagement of the NBA

The NBA and WNBA have gained their viewership dramatically in recent years. According to the WNBA official website, 54 million people watched the 2024 season. At the same time, the official NBA Instagram account has 90M followers, the second most following UEFA with 121M. At the same time, it implies that the number of NBA fans who only watch highlights is also increasing. Meanwhile, it is important to showcase another aspect of sports, social impact, to bring a perspective to enjoy sports more deeply and more personally. How players, franchises, and the league give back to their community is not well-known to most fans. I believe knowing what kind of organization players belong to and what kind of passion they have as individuals would help you understand their legacy profoundly.

The Mission and the Role of the NBA Cares: Why It Matters

The NBA Cares launched in October 2005, only two months after Hurricane Katrina, and it marked 20 years of its history in 2025. The NBA Cares aimed to be a connector between the league and the community, through gaining a reputation of players off the court and sharing their stories as a large platform. Ms. Horn noted the importance of responding to what the needs are by listening closely. Especially since COVID-19, the NBA Cares has expanded its influence not only in the United States but also worldwide. We can see initiatives about health, inclusion, education, human rights, civic engagement, and more. At the same time, it still has a limitation: Probably the NBA as an industry is not the best in a certain aspect. That is why the NBA Cares is always thinking about what the NBA, in particular, is uniquely positioned to drive impacts on, Ms. Horn tells.

It is still surprising that one sports league strives to create impacts in various fields. Moreover, the NBA utilized its global reach and partnerships with local and international businesses to maximize the influence of the league and its surroundings. I believe inclusion and diversity in the league, which I will discuss later, can be one of the keys to success in social change.

For more information, I also recommend visiting the official websites below.

https://www.nba.com/news/nba-cares-celebrates-20th-anniversary-2

All-Star Day of Service: How Cares Has Evolved

As Ms. Horn mentioned, All-Star Day of Service is one of the main programs of the NBA Cares. This initiative started at the 2008 All-Star in New Orleans and has been organized annually at the All-Star. The NBA Cares launched only two months after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005, and this was significant because they realized the All-Star Game and conducted community service in New Orleans.

At the meeting, I discussed the theme of the 2025 All-Star in San Francisco. The biggest focus was youth development, centered on the Warriors Foundation and Jr. NBA/WNBA. The NBA also focused on many other factors, including health and wellness, inclusion, and environment. For example, HBCU games, NBA Total Health, and their first Girltrek Walk were hosted. As Ms. Horn specializes in the environment, she explained an event app that we can earn points through taking public transportation and eating at a vegan restaurant, for example. The event app and jumbotrons at the All-Star Games are a great opportunity to highlight the key initiatives the NBA works on.

For more details on the 2025 All-Star in San Francisco, check the website link below.

https://www.nba.com/warriors/news/nba-all-star-2025-community-impact-20250210

Regarding the next All-Star in Los Angeles in 2026, I am thinking about how they will approach the Southern California wildfires that happened last year. Although specific initiatives are not open, Ms. Horn declared that this could be the biggest topic of the community service at the All-Star.

I hope this All-Star helps as many people who have been struggling with the wildfires.

Inclusion and Diversity in the NBA: International Players and Women’s Empowerment

Do you know how many nationalities NBA rosters have today? We have 135 international players from 43 countries in the 2025-26 season. It is time to talk about how these players contribute to the NBA’s global reach in terms of community engagement. At the same time, the WNBA has gained popularity, especially over the last few seasons. What is the critical element of this growth, and what is the remaining challenge in the women’s league?

Now, let’s take a look at the impact of international players first. Ms. Horn emphasized that they not only help the NBA reach a larger number of regions, but also deepen the connections with the regions. As international players work as authentic messengers, the NBA can know what issues are important to these players and people there. We can see how players’ real voices matter here. Recently, the NBA has held a game internationally, like Paris, Mexico, and in 2026, we will have regular-season games in London and Berlin. In addition, many players visit abroad, influencing the global fan base.

For women’s empowerment, we can come up with some essential factors, such as health and women’s sports culture. Maybe women are more impacted by health issues like breast cancer or pregnancy. The concept of promoting women’s sports is to break down some of these barriers to get more women benefiting from playing the game. To address this challenge, Ms. Horn highlighted that it is also crucial to listen to players, not only fans, to identify the issues. At the same time, if female athletes get more attention, more girls will be motivated to pursue a career as an athlete. Either on or off the court, the media need to showcase women in leadership positions.

The WNBA named A’ja Wilson as the Jr. WNBA Global Ambassador this year. She is very active at the forefront and inspires so many girls and youth. Also, Sabrina Ionescu appeared in the All-Star 3pt Challenge vs. Steph Curry. I realized that leveraging this kind of intersected collaboration within the league was also essential.

What comes to your mind when thinking of such a collaboration across the league? What about NBA 2K? I remember that we can play WNBA in NBA 2K24. I have heard that NBA 2K26 has more features related to the WNBA. I think this is what Horn says, “What the NBA in particular is positioned to drive impact on.” Inclusion and diversity bring solutions; this is what I believe is the strength of the NBA and sports.

For more information on the NBA’s global reach and women’s empowerment, visit the website below.

https://nbaevents.nba.com/europegames

https://www.wnba.com/news/aja-wilson-named-jr-wnba-global-ambassador

https://www.wnba.com/news/2025-dawn-staley-community-leadership-award

Importance of Youth Development

I conclude that the key to success in the NBA’s community engagement is inclusion and diversity in the industry. I suggest that youth development cultivates these factors.

Let me talk about how Dikembe Mutombo promoted African sports culture. Dikembe Mutombo was born in the Republic of Congo and dedicated to developing sports culture and social welfare in Africa, such as investing in the NBA Africa, financially supporting the Congo Women’s Basketball Team to take them to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and constructing hospitals in underserved regions in Africa. There are many more players who supported their own country, like Manute Bol, and it is obvious that they have contributed to producing NBA players from Africa and many other regions. Furthermore, these current players, like Jonathan Kuminga, strive to improve their home community. What is beautiful about youth development is that it creates such a positive cycle in the community, and their attitude influences other players and even beyond sports.

Personally, I would like to be part of this positive cycle in the future through the sports industry.

Please let me show my gratitude for the NBA Cares and Ms. Horn again.

Thank you for reading this article.