Giving Back Early in the NBA
Twan's parents taught him to always help others
With the Golden State Warriors
GIVING BACK EARLY WITH THE WARRIORS
As an NBA rookie with the Golden State Warriors, Antawn started “Antawn’s Army,” a charity ticket program in which he purchased tickets for numerous youth and student organizations every month, enabling them to attend a Warriors home game as his special guests. Antawn continued this program in Dallas when he played for the Mavericks and in Washington with the Wizards.
As a member of the Warriors, Antawn enthusiastically participated in several of their educational, health and recreational programs, including the “Tall Tales” Reading Program, Warriors Basketball Camp and the Warriors Prostate Cancer Awareness Program. He also served as a member of the Warriors Foundation Board of Directors. During the 2001-02 season, he donated $10,000 to the Alan Beaven Family Fund, an educational trust fund for the children of one of the heroes of Flight 93 who was also an Oakland resident.
He participated in the Warriors' annual Thanksgiving H.O.O.P. Caravan by serving Thanksgiving dinners to residents of domestic violence shelters at a local restaurant. And on November 19, 2002, he participated in the Warriors Sega NBA 2K3 Tournament in San Francisco, a community event for youth.
Then on December 19, 2002, Antawn shared his holiday spirit by hosting the Warriors annual Community Holiday Party at the Oakland Zoo for 150 children from local youth centers, including the Alameda Boys & Girls Club, Boys & Girls Club of Hayward, Eastlake YMCA and the Latino Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Each child received a gift and enjoyed pizza, entertainment, holiday treats and visits from a few of Antawn’s friends and teammates. Antawn also presented a major gift to each center, as well as group tickets to the zoo’s annual “Zoo Lights” holiday show.
After Antawn was traded from Golden State to the Dallas Mavericks, his desire to give back didn't diminish. During Nov. 17-25, 2003, Antawn gave $10,000 to match teammates Michael Finley and Antoine Walker’s donations for Finley’s Buckets for Hunger Thanksgiving Challenge benefiting the North Texas Food Bank. As a result of donations from the Mavs and fans, $109,697.70 was raised. This is equivalent to over 750,000 pounds or approximately 20 tractor-trailers of food to feed North Texas families.