MJ THROWS DOWN A HALF-MIL
NBA All Star festivities are underway in New Orleans, and tipping off the love is Michael Jordan, whose Jordan Brand just threw down a cool donation of $500,000 to benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Louisiana’s Slidell Unit. The Unit was left in shambles after Katrina, but MJ plans on building a new Jordan Brand gym complete with a professional basketball court, scoreboard and bleachers to be used by the kids of the Boys & Girls Club and other related community events.

“The Boys and Girls Clubs of America has been a visible contributor to the families and children of New Orleans, during and post Hurricane Katrina,” said Michael Jordan. “Slidell is a community that has been somewhat overlooked in recovery efforts and we are proud to aid with its rebuilding and leave a lasting legacy for the community.” During the check presentation Jordan was flanked by All-Star babes Carmelo ‘Sweet Melon’ Anthony and good-guy Chris Paul (R), while hundreds of New Orleans-area kids looked on in anticipation. “I have a different perspective from any of the other all-stars,” said Chris Paul, “Everybody else that’s here for the weekend, they got to give back and do different things, then they go back to their cities. This is it for me. I’m facing these things every day. These are my people.”

More love from Jordan and Nike comes via the shoes, of course. Joining Nike’s ‘Considered’ movement is the new Air Jordan XX3, which was created with almost no chemical-based glues- good news for those ‘overseas-workers’ who have historically been wearing face masks during assembly. Nike VP/Innovation Design & Special Projects Tinker Hatfield, has worked with Michael Jordan for two decades in designing his shoes and said that Jordan “had his doubts when presented with the plan.” Hatfield: “The first words out of his mouth were, ‘It better work right.’” Hatfield added that a “key challenge was to create a shoe that could withstand the rigors of the basketball court while reducing the use of chemical glues.” The design team created the shoe’s outsole, midsole and upper sections to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. (Wall Street Journal).

PULLING THEIR WEIGHT FOR CHARITY

More NBA All Star festivities…the Kenner Police Department challenged the Kenner Fire Department as part of the first-ever Southwest Airlines NBA All-Star Pro Tow. New Orleans Hornet Rasual Butler acted as coach for the Police Department, while Hilton Armstrong coached team Firemen. The Hornets ‘coaches’ walked alongside their teams while they pulled an 80,000 pound 737 over the course of 50-yards. “We’re doing this for the kids,” yelled Butler. “You all got to pull hard.” Team Butler pulled the jet several seconds faster than team Armstrong’s firefighters. Southwest donated $12,000 to the Police Department’s charity choice, Special Olympics Louisiana, and $8,000 to the Fire Department’s choice, the American Cancer Society’s New Orleans Chapter. (Nola.com)

As always, thanks for reading.
delinda@athlebrities.