– Carter Hosted Flight 34 Aviation Event, Annual Basketball Camp and Participated in Holiday Giveaways –
– NBA to Donate $10,000 to A Platform² Foundation –
NEW YORK, February 25, 2025 – The NBA today announced Orlando Magic center Wendell Carter, Jr. as the NBA Cares Bob Lanier Community Assist Award winner for the month of January. Carter is being recognized for hosting a Flight 34 Aviation Event to provide Orange County Public School students with an introduction to aviation, and his 3rd annual basketball camp in his hometown of Atlanta. Additionally, Carter participated in holiday giveaways through his A Platform² Foundation. Carter will receive the David Robinson trophy, and the NBA will donate $10,000 to A Platform² Foundation – an organization that provides youth and families with educational programs, resources and tools that impact and elevate their quality of life.
Carter held his 3rd annual Basketball Camp with Whitefield Academy Athletic Center through his foundation. Hosted each year in Carter’s hometown of Atlanta, the camp was free of charge for more than 100 local youth, with campers receiving on court coaching and instruction from Carter. This year’s camp included educational workshops on financial literacy to help the campers learn about the importance of setting financial goals, responsible saving and credit score literacy. Each camper left the camp with a $25 starter deposit for a bank account in their name.
In partnership with L3Harris and Microsoft, Carter hosted his Flight 34 Aviation Event at the L3Harris Flight School. Flight 34 provided students from Orange County Public Schools’ Evans and Oak Ridge High School’s with an introduction to aviation through STEM challenges, flight simulators, aircraft maintenance classes and a flight with an experienced pilot. Carter and Microsoft teamed up to provide desktop simulators and aviation software to enhance the aviation programs at each school. Growing up, Carter’s passion was aviation, and currently, less than 3% of employed U.S. pilots are Black. Flight 34, named after Carter’s jersey number, aims to increase that population by fostering interest in aerospace careers among underrepresented youth.
Additionally, during the holiday season, Carter and the A Platform² Foundation teamed up with Magic guard Cole Anthony’s 50 Ways Foundation to deliver more than 400 Thanksgiving meals to families at the Rosemont Community Center. Carter and his foundation also hosted a holiday party to celebrate the academic accomplishments of 20 students from Carter Jr.’s Flight 34 Aviation program. Each student was rewarded with a dinner from Debonair Orlando, new backpacks, a Flight 34 hoodie, Bluetooth sound collars and brand-new iPads to help further their dreams of a career in STEM.
“These things are incredibly important to me. I feel like you’re not successful until you bring someone else up with you,” said Carter. “Where I’ve come from, what I’m used to, what I have seen in my life – I’m able to relate to a lot of these kids in a certain way. I want to be able to help any and every kid that I can. And for them to experience a new career path or to feel valued and recognized goes a long way. I’m proud of that work and I’m really excited to continue building this program and lifting up these kids in whatever ways possible.”
Carter will be recognized in-arena as the NBA Cares Bob Lanier Community Assist Award winner during pregame of the Cavaliers-Magic game on Feb. 25. Presenting Carter with the award will be Orlando Magic CEO, Alex Martins and President of Basketball Operations, Jeff Weltman. This is the second time this season a player from the Orlando Magic has won the monthly Community Assist Award. Magic guard Cole Anthony was recognized as the October winner.
The NBA Cares Bob Lanier Community Assist Award honors Bob Lanier, an NBA League Office executive and NBA Cares Ambassador for more than 30 years. He had an enormous influence on the NBA family and young people globally, traveling the world to teach the values of the game and making a positive impact through his kindness and generosity. The legacy he built will continue to live on through the NBA Cares Bob Lanier Community Assist Award recognition, which honors the next generation of players’ commitment to positively impacting their community throughout the NBA season. Over the course of each NBA season, there is an offseason winner followed by seven monthly award winners. The offseason winner receives the Bob Lanier trophy, and each monthly winner receives the David Robinson trophy. The NBA also makes a donation to the charity or foundation of the player’s choice. To learn more, please visit https://communityassist.nba.com/.