Michael Jordan becomes Chief Wish Ambassador

Michael Jordan, regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time and a successful business leader, now has a new title  – Chief Wish Ambassador for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Jordan was formally introduced in his new role by David Williams, Make-A-Wish Foundation of America president and chief executive officer, at the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational golf tournament. The tournament continues through Sunday at Kerzner International’s Atlantis, Paradise Island resort and Ocean Club Golf Course in the Bahamas.

Jordan, who has granted more than 175 wishes during the past two decades, will serve as lead figure for the Foundation’s newly formed Wish Ambassador Council and as a national spokesman, assisting the Foundation’s efforts to increase wish-granting outreach.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation’s Wish Ambassador Council is composed of people who are passionate about the Foundation’s work, including the Make-A-Wish® founders, celebrities and national sports figures such as Jordan, former wish children, wish parents and Foundation supporters.

“An estimated 27,000 children are diagnosed with life-threatening medical conditions in the United States each year, and I’m eager to do what I can to help the Make-A-Wish Foundation reach out to even more of these courageous children,” Jordan said. “Granting children’s wishes through the Foundation has always been important to me. It’s a truly humbling, inspiring experience to see the smiles and joy that granting a wish brings to a child. I want to help even more children have that same opportunity.”

The Make-A-Wish Foundation has increased its number of wishes granted each year since 1985, including 13,425 in 2008, the most in its 28-year history. Yet that many more seriously ill children may be eligible for a wish from the Foundation, creating the opportunity to increase its outreach efforts.

“We are extremely honored for Michael Jordan to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation as our first Chief Wish Ambassador,” Williams said. “Michael is one of the Foundation’s most popular celebrity wish granters ever. He has a great appreciation and enthusiasm for our mission, and we’re delighted for him to help us reach out to even more children with life-threatening medical conditions.”

To celebrate the occasion, Jordan also granted the wish of 7-year-old Donovan Russell of Sacramento, Calif. Russell, along with his family, met his basketball idol in a private meeting Friday at Atlantis, Paradise Island, and he is enjoying a number of activities at the resort as part of his wish experience.

Also on Saturday, the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational made a $150,000 contribution to the Make-A-Wish Foundation as one of the tournament’s charity beneficiaries. The eighth annual tournament will distribute more than $500,000 to selected charities this year.

“We appreciate the generosity of Michael, Kerzner International and everyone involved with the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational,” Williams said. “This wonderful contribution will help us grant the heartfelt wishes of dozens more children who truly deserve the hope, strength and joy that comes from a wish experience.”

Wayman Tisdale’s battle

Wayman Tisdale lost his leg to cancer.  But through it all he never lost his joy.

A native Oklahoman, Wayman became the first Division-1 athlete to be named All-American in his first three seasons.  An olympic gold medal winner, he enjoyed a 12 year NBA career before pursuing his life-long passion of music.

He became an accomplished Jazz musician and has released several award winning albums.

Enjoy some of Wayman’s music below:

Magic Johnson - Entrepeneurial Success

As a young man, Earvin “Magic” Johnson admired his father and other small-town entrepreneurs who created jobs and served as leaders in his Midwestern community. He worked for them, watched them, and his interest in building communities through economic development grew even while his basketball career flourished. His fame as an NBA star gave him access to some of the most successful business leaders in the country. It was Earvin’s own entrepreneurial spirit that inspired them to serve as his mentors.

Earvin made the transition from great athlete to greater entrepreneur through hard work and by avidly pursuing opportunities. He recognized that densely populated urban communities were ripe for commercial and residential development. He partnered with major brands like Starbucks, 24 Hour Fitness, and T.G.I. Friday’s to lead a major economic push in these communities. The success of his businesses proved that ethnically diverse urban residents would welcome and support major brands if given the opportunity. Earvin continues to be a leader of urban economic development that provides jobs, goods, and a new spirit of community.

32 Ways to Be a Champion in Business will inspire and enlighten readers who wish to make a similar impact with their careers and business endeavors.

Former NBA star Love delivers inspirational message

Perhaps it was his last name or his gentle demeanor, or maybe it was that he has met President-elect Barack Obama and Michael Jordan on numerous occasions, but when former NBA All-Star Bob Love finished his motivational speech to ninth graders Wednesday at Naples High, an auditorium filled with teenagers rushed forward to hug him.

The kids Love was addressing — about staying in school and choosing friends wisely — are growing up in a different reality than the former Chicago Bulls great, who was born in the Jim Crow South (Baston, La.) in 1942.

Two girls — one white, one black, one with dreadlocks, one with red ribbons in her hair — sat side by side, holding hands as Love told his story. Both had “OBAMA” written on their arms in marker.

“God bless America,” Love said again and again.

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Because of his stutter, Love found life after basketball difficult. At one point, unable to find gainful employment because of his stutter, Love took a job as a busboy and dishwasher making $4.45 an hour.

“Those were some of the most embarrassing, most humiliating days of my life,” Love said. “It took me about a year and a half of speech therapy before I could speak a whole sentence. Still, every morning I get up and look in the mirror and practice what I learned. I never want to go back to where I came from.

“All those honors I received when I was playing, I would give back in a minute to be able to give these kids some words of inspiration.”

Love, who does nearly 200 speaking engagements a year, played against some of the game’s true legends.

Read Full Story - Love Inspires

Carmani Boozer fights sickle cell disease

“E:60″ talks with Carlos and CeCe Boozer about their fight against sickle cell anemia.   Carmani Boozer has now been disease free for the past year after treatment.

Sickle-cell disease or sickle-cell anaemia (or anemia) is a blood disorder characterized by red blood cells that assume an abnormal, rigid, sickle shape. Sickling decreases the cells’ flexibility and results in their restricted movement through blood vessels, depriving downstream tissues of oxygen. The disease is chronic and lifelong: individuals are most often well, but their lives are punctuated by periodic painful attacks and a risk of various other complications. Life expectancy is shortened, with older studies reporting an average life expectancy of 42 and 48 years for males and females, respectively.

This has been Boozer’s plight ever since May 31, 2006, when Carmani was born with sickle cell disease, an inherited disorder that affects more than 70,000 people in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Boozer is among more than 2 million people who carry the gene that allows them to pass it on their children. The disease creates abnormal blood cells that can clog blood flow through small blood vessels. It causes pain, blood clots and other serious problems, including death.

The condition was detected while Carmani was in the womb. Boozer and CeCe, who have been together since they met nine years ago at Duke, elected to try a risky new treatment that involved a bone marrow transplant and in vitro fertilization

Houston Rockets buy supplies for Hurricane Ike victims

The reminders are everywhere.

Nearly one week after Hurricane Ike tore through southeast Texas, its destructive presence still lingers like a loathsome black cloud extending a pall over the affected area. Everywhere you go there are fallen trees, broken homes and traffic lights rendered inoperative due to the massive power outage.

Of course, far more troubling is the toll this storm has taken on the area’s residents. More than one million Houstonians are still trying to cope without the benefit of electricity. Getting gas or groceries remains a cumbersome chore. Then there are those who lost absolutely everything to Ike. Amidst so much devastation and destruction, it’s easy to be overwhlemed by the bleak landscape before us right now.

Yet the city and its residents are already starting to regroup and rebuild. It’s a process that begins, as it always does, with the healing power of hope and hard work. So with that in mind, the Houston Rockets reached out today in an effort to provide plenty of both.

In conjunction with Feed the Children, Leslie Alexander and the Rockets organization purchased several semi trucks loaded with pre-packaged, non-perishable food and basic essential toiletries which were distributed to area residents Thusday at the University of Houston’s Robertson Stadium. Rockets’ players and staff took turns handing out the goods.

“We’re just trying to help and contribute as much as possible,” said Rockets’ forward Mike Harris. It was a very unfortunate situation and I think we can do a great job giving back to the community and trying to help those that lost a lot of things – things that you can’t make up for and things that they’ll never get back. So we’re just trying to help in any possible way that we can.

Full article on HoustonRockets.com

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