How is the 2023 NBA All-Star Game helping the Utah community and its charities?

The 2023 NBA All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah, is set to tip off this Friday. Many NBA fans are excited about the weekend’s festivities; however, the impact of the event is expected to stretch far beyond the court.

The NBA is preparing an abundance of All-Star-related charity events in Salt Lake City that in total will raise over $3 million for various charities.

The following are a few of the charity events that the NBA has planned for this weekend. This is in addition to the charity work that has already been done in Utah over the past few days and weeks.

Upcoming NBA All-Star Weekend charity events

2023 NBA All-Star weekend promo

NBA All-Star day of service (Feb. 18)

The NBA’s annual All-Star Weekend community service project will take place this Saturday in Salt Lake City. Over 500 employees will be taking part, including current and former NBA players. Volunteers will be working with the Utah Food Bank, Bishop’s Central Storehouse, and Volunteers of America Utah to package and hand out food donations.

Jr. NBA events (Feb. 18-19)

The NBA and Utah Jazz will be partnering to host various Jr. NBA youth basketball events on both Saturday and Sunday.

The events include a girls' basketball clinic hosted by WNBA players called “Her Time to Play.” There will also be a skills clinic for over 200 Special Olympics athletes, as well as a children’s wheelchair basketball clinic called the "Wheelin’ Jazz.” In addition, there will be a traditional 5-on-5 basketball tournament and a Jr. NBA Skills Challenge on Saturday.

There will even be a children’s refereeing clinic hosted by NBA officials. This will coincide with another educational refereeing event called “Respect The Game.”

Finally, outside of on-court activities, there will be a STEM clinic that will educate children about sports science.

NBA All-Star Game charity donations (Feb. 19)

The most well-known aspect of the NBA’s All-Star Weekend charity efforts is undoubtedly the prize money that is donated following the All-Star Game itself. Following this year’s game, $750,000 will be divided between two Utah charities represented by Team Giannis and Team LeBron.

Team Giannis will represent “Raise the Future” while Team LeBron will represent the “Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah.”

Raise the Future’s mission is to work to “reduce the amount of time youth in foster care live without a permanent family.”

Meanwhile, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah's mission is to “ignite the biggest possible future for youth facing opportunity gaps by providing them with mentoring relationships.”

Children from both organizations will once again be part of the NBA All-Star Game as they cheer on their teams.

Additional donations

Other charitable donations that will be made by the NBA this weekend will go toward helping causes like environmental issues and mental health issues.

The league will be partnering with "Clever Carbon" to raise awareness about carbon footprints. They will also be donating to other initiatives that will educate youth on various environmental issues.

Finally, the NBA Players Association will be donating to Utah organizations that “support reducing mental health stigma” and “increase access to mental health services.”

As previously noted, these are just the NBA’s charity plans for this coming weekend. However, other work has already been done in the Utah community leading up to this weekend. For more on the league’s charity contributions to the people of Salt Lake City, Utah, click here.