When the NBA All-Star Game takes over a city each year, so do the NBA team chaplains.
This year’s game took place on Feb. 18 in Indianapolis and brought with it a long weekend filled with festivities including the Celebrity Game, Rising Stars Challenge, Skills Challenge, Three Point Contest, Stephen vs. Sabrina, and the Slam Dunk Contest.
While fans are taking in everything the NBA All-Star Game brings, most are unaware of the impact NBA team chaplains are making on the city behind the scenes.
ChurchLeaders was invited by Houston Rockets’ team chaplain Damon Gunn to follow the chaplains around for the weekend and see how God uses them to serve not only their own teams but also the city hosting the All-Star Game.
Gunn shared that years ago, while he was working for the Minnesota Timberwolves organization, he was out partying with some NBA players one night when he felt a strong urge to put down his alcoholic beverage and go home.
“I knew right then I had a choice to make,” Gunn said. He then made the choice to walk away from the NBA world as he knew it and “into a relationship with Jesus.”
Gunn explained, “I definitely made the right choice, even though I didn’t know what I was getting myself in to.”
All-Star Gospel Celebration
Thursday night kicked off the 17th All-Star Gospel Celebration at the Madam C.J. Walker Theater. The event featured performances by Grammy Award-winning singer Dante Bowe, Dove Award-nominated Kelontae Gavin, and Dove Award-winning gospel singer and fourth place star of Season 8 of “The Voice” Koryn Hawthorne.
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The night was hosted by NBA veteran Mo Evans and author Jacinda Jacobs, who honored Kyra and Mike Epps, the Indiana Pacers’ Oscar Tshiebwe, media personality Tomi Rose, and NBA veteran Andre Iguodala and his mother Linda J. Shanklin for their community work.
Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever in-game host Olivia West told ChurchLeaders that “it is so incredibly important that we remember where our help comes from. Basketball is an amazing sport and it brings people together. But it is not God.”
At the All-Star Gospel Celebration, “we are lifting praises up because blessings are raining down on the city of Indianapolis and on the state of Indiana,” West added.
