– Simons Provided Scholarships and Supplies for Students, Supported Mental Health Wellbeing and Hosted Holiday Giveaways –
– NBA will Donate $10,000 to Be A Light–
NEW YORK, April 13, 2025 – The NBA today announced Portland Trail Blazers Anfernee Simons as the NBA Cares Bob Lanier Community Assist Award winner for the month of March. As part of his efforts, Simons provided scholarships to 24 students, supported mental health wellbeing and hosted holiday events in Portland and his home state of Florida. Simons will receive the David Robinson trophy, and the NBA will donate $10,000 to Be A Light, an organization that supports at-risk youth and young adults.
Simons contributed $45,000 in scholarships to students pursuing higher education based on their personal proposals and need for financial aid. Each year, Simons hosts the Be A Light Grad Bash to celebrate graduates from kindergarten to high school. The event features live music, food, games and prizes with each participant being recognized onstage and receiving a package of supplies to prepare them for the next stage of their academic journeys.
Simons also participated in World Mental Health Day at the Blazers Boys & Girls Club. This event provided a safe and open environment for a conversation around mental health, helping to breaking the negative stigma and offering young people tools and resources to prioritize their mental wellbeing. Simons’ leadership in this event made an impactful difference in educating young individuals in the community.
During the winter holidays, Simons demonstrated his generosity by providing nearly 300 warm meals for families in Portland and Florida to celebrate Thanksgiving. In December, Simons partnered with Nike to speak with students from Y.O.U.TH in Portland and educate them about career opportunities in the sneaker industry. The event brought in a designer from Nike who helped the students create their own custom Nike Sabrina 2. At a later date, Simons provided over 100 meals to those individuals and their families to celebrate the holidays..
“One of the first things I thought about when I made it to the NBA was how I can make a direct impact in my community, specifically to the youth in the greater Portland area,” said Simons. “It’s extremely important for me to personally connect with the kids in the community and present opportunities for them to express themselves and become great. I am truly thankful to be in a position where I can offer creative outlets for tomorrow’s leaders.”
Simons will be recognized in-arena as the NBA Cares Bob Lanier Community Assist Award winner during the Lakers-Trail Blazers game on April 13.
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/.