“I just saw the horrible news, about how the government had put people at risk for the sake of saving money, and I knew I needed to help.” Rasheed Wallace said on the Flint water condition in 2016. The league has started NBA Cares as the league’s global social responsibility program that builds on the NBA’s mission of addressing important social issues around the world. And when asked about his most impactful off-court moment, Wallace was quick to point out 2 instances.

Talking about how giving back is a huge part of the job of a professional athlete, Rasheed Wallace and Bonzi Wells spoke about how those moments shaped them as players. Sheed was part of the Pistons for 5 seasons, so felt like it was his responsibility as well to help the community. “We’re passing out a lot of perishable needs for a lot of the families and the young mothers and we going in projects and everything up there in Flint,” Wallace said on his YouTube channel.

The situation was so bad because there were areas in Flint where “no one would go to help them“. They were distributing water cases and pampers and everything they could. “I felt like I was thankful to the most high,” said Rasheed Wallace because he was able to bring a lot of help to those who needed it.

There were no street lights on at night in the area. Part of Flint was already in extreme poverty, but people were suffering from missing clumps of hair and rashes on adults and children because of poisoned water. But, this was not the only time he had helped.

Rasheed Wallace un-retired and got back to work

For him, the first one was during Hurricane Sandy which happened in late October 2012. During that time, Rasheed Wallace was part of the New York Knicks and felt his “presence was good amongst people.” The Hurricane caused a lot of damage in the northeast and flooded New York and Philadelphia regions. Wallace had retired from basketball but came back at the beginning of October to sign with the Knicks.

The area of Brownsville had one of the toughest projects, and not many sports teams go there. So, Rasheed Wallace actually felt like making a real change in people’s lives. “So when we went there and to see all of those people lined up for a lot of the necessities that they needed. Like I felt that I was thankful to the most high I was there that day.”

Bonzi Wells said being a professional athlete means helping people more than anything. From helping family members to go to college or helping with day-to-day stuff.

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