NBA Award

Reggie Bullock, Dallas Mavericks

Reggie Bullock has been an avid advocate for LGBTQ equity throughout his NBA career, continuing his efforts with the Dallas Mavericks during the 2021-22 season. Following the 2014 murder of his sister Mia Henderson, who was transgender, Bullock has focused on acceptance of all people by working to create truly inclusive communities through neighborhood engagement and national efforts around the LGBTQ movement, including participating in the NYC Pride March, the GLAAD Media Awards and NBA events for LGBTQ youth and allies. Upon joining the Mavericks in August of 2021, he forged new relationships with organizations that work in the LGBTQ space in the greater Dallas area, including Abounding Prosperity, Dallas Southern Pride, House of Rebirth, The Black-Tie Dinner, the Resource Center and the Muhlashia Booker Foundation.

Fred VanVleet, Toronto Raptors

Fred VanVleet has been a leader and champion around social justice, inspiring teammates to find their own voice in his pursuit. To create equity in education, he created the Fred VanVleet Scholarship in Dec. 2021, a full academic scholarship for a Black or Indigenous student to pursue four years of higher education in Canada and receive mentorship from VanVleet to help shape the reality for the student after their academic career. Additionally, through the Heart of the City initiative, he distributed more than 1,000 backpacks to historically marginalized students throughout the Greater Toronto Area and provided them with the necessary resources to succeed academically.

Jrue Holiday, Milwaukee Bucks

During the 2021-22 season, Jrue Holiday continued to support Black-led organizations and Black-owned businesses in Milwaukee and beyond. Through the Jrue and Lauren Holiday Social Justice Fund, Holiday has provided funding and support to minority businesses to address social and economic inequality that continues to prevent Black communities from upward mobility. In February 2022, he and his wife launched the third round of grant funding, committing another $1 million dollars to Black-owned business and nonprofits in Milwaukee, New Orleans, Indianapolis and Los Angeles.

Jaren Jackson Jr., Memphis Grizzlies

For the past several years, Jaren Jackson Jr. has been focused on advancing health and economic equity in Black and brown communities, creating women empowerment initiatives and increasing voter awareness. Understanding the pandemic’s impact on communities of color, Jackson Jr. has worked to provide custom masks for Black and brown families, supply PPE to communities, provide meals for those working at COVID testing locations and use his voice in the NBA’s COVID-19 PSA to encourage all to get vaccinated. Additionally, Jackson Jr. continues to support women’s empowerment initiatives and recently completed his third year as an ambassador for the Nike Game Growers Program, an exclusive opportunity for 7th and 8th grade girls to share their ideas on how to encourage more girls to play sports.

Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves

Karl-Anthony Towns has devoted his time, platform and resources to health equity and education since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and specifically this past season to advocate for vaccine education after experiencing personal loss. Towns worked with the NBA on a vaccine PSA released in Feb. 2022, Cue Health to provide 100 COVID-19 testing kits and tests to more than 50 schools in both New Jersey and Minnesota, and Walgreens on their Get a Shot, Give a Shot campaign to promote flu shots and help ensure access for all via a $5,000 donation.

View the official press release for 2022 finalists here.

Carmelo Anthony, Portland Trail Blazers

A prolific champion in the social impact space, ten-time NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony has been unabashedly vocal on how systemic oppression, racism and police brutality not only dehumanizes Black people, but prohibits the progress needed for generations of Black people to thrive and progress as a community. He founded the Carmelo Anthony Foundation over 15 years ago as a vehicle for actionable change and social reform through a variety of outreach programs and disaster relief initiatives.

Harrison Barnes, Sacramento Kings

Over the last year Harrison Barnes has provided meaningful support to youth, families and frontline workers in Sacramento, Dallas and Ames, IA, and has also been a vocal advocate for voter rights, addressing systemic racism and investing in Black youth. Leading up to the 2020 election, he emphasized the importance of civic engagement and voting through speaking engagements, a collaboration with Be.Woke.Vote and casting a ballot himself on National Vote Early Day at Golden 1 Center. As part of the NBA restart, Barnes dedicated each Kings game to a different organization supporting racial justice – including the Trayvon Martin Foundation, the Botham Jean Foundation, The Atatiana Project, Mothers Against Police Brutality, the Michael Brown Foundation, Tamir Rice Foundation, Champion in the Making and the African American Policy Forum – and contributed $25,000 to those created by the families of victims of police brutality and gun violence.

Tobias Harris, Philadelphia 76ers

As a longtime advocate for social justice, Tobias Harris has been particularly focused on eliminating racial inequities within school systems that have historically harmed young people of color. To date through the Tobias Harris Charitable Fund, he has awarded $2 million dollars to help move the needle on educational equity. This year, he awarded $300,000 to The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia to recruit teachers from HBCUs or diverse backgrounds – who are more likely to carry higher student loan balances following graduation – and provide relocation stipends to prevent barriers of quality Black teachers in the classroom. Harris also created the Tobias’ Top Teachers program, to assist in the recruitment and retention of Black male teachers by helping fund 55 professional development workshops and providing 800 new teachers with needed classroom supplies.

Jrue Holiday, Milwaukee Bucks

A longtime advocate for social justice, this past year Jrue Holiday has focused on creating economic opportunity and empowerment in communities of color. Last summer, Holiday pledged the remainder of his 2020 NBA salary to create The Jrue and Lauren Holiday Social Justice Fund, which seeks to combat systemic racism and increase economic equality by providing funding and support to Black-led organizations and businesses. Earlier this season, the fund announced support for 25 nonprofits and historically Black institutions, as well as 23 Black-owned small businesses in Los Angeles, New Orleans and Indianapolis.

Juan Toscano-Anderson, Golden State Warriors

Juan Toscano-Anderson, whose parents are Black and Mexican American, is focused on empowerment for Latino and Black communities and established the Journey to Achieve (JTA) Foundation to give back to youth and families of color in the Bay Area, Santa Cruz and Mexico. The Oakland native has continued to use his voice to advocate for social justice and equality in the Bay Area. Toscano-Anderson participated in the Warriors’ VOTERS Win campaign – a PSA to encourage Black and Latino citizens to vote in the 2020 election and fill out the census – and led two Walk in Unity events in Oakland, bringing people together to combat oppression, police brutality and social injustice.

View the official press release for the 2021 finalists here.