tlongII
11-02-2012, 11:45 AM
http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2012/11/trail_blazers_lamarcus_aldridge_delivers_100_assis .html
http://media.oregonlive.com/blazers_impact/photo/11799113-large.jpg
After hearing a speech from 17-year-old Shayanne Akles (center), LaMarcus Aldridge decided to help, buying and delivering 100 turkey dinners to families in need in Northeast Portland.
Sometimes, more goes into being a franchise player than putting up impressive statistics on the court.
So even though LaMarcus Aldridge was a catalyst in the Trail Blazers' season-opening victory against the Lakers on Wednesday, hitting his first five shots and finishing with 19 points, he made perhaps an even bigger impact earlier in the week, when he put up a different set of impressive numbers.
Aldridge, the 27-year-old who has become the franchise centerpiece in his seventh season in Portland, bought and personally delivered 100 turkey dinners to Northeast Portland families in need.
"They needed to see that someone cares about them," Aldridge said.
Aldridge is an intensely personal and guarded man. He is more wary than willing while interacting. But behind those barriers lies a huge heart, and a couple of weeks ago, the words of a young Portland woman seeped past his hardened veneer and latched on to that heart, inspiring him to spend the $5,000 to buy the food.
Her name is Shayanne Akles, a 17-year-old junior at Parkrose High, who on most days is bouncing about the Police Activities League center on the corner of Northeast 172nd and Glisan, easy with a smile and quick to help tutor a fellow student with English homework.
"I'm really good at English," she says.
But the first time Aldridge saw Akles, she was weeping.
It was Oct. 20, at the Trail Blazers' annual Hoops & Heart dinner, a fundraiser and auction for the team's Make It Better Foundation. In front of Blazers players, front office staff and season-ticket holders, Akles was on stage, talking about the importance of the PAL center. Not only does it provide a place for kids to play basketball and air hockey, she said, but it also offers kids computer training and tutoring. For many, it is often the only place where they get a meal that day.
Suddenly, Aldridge became enraptured. As a youth, he said he often went to sleep hungry. His mother worked hard, but sometimes, it wasn't enough to feed him and his brother.
"There would be times we would have to wait a couple of days, until she got paid again," Aldridge said. "All the way through high school. My mom worked hard on her own, but there were nights she just didn't have enough money to have food. So, I know how it feels. It wasn't like I was 5 or 6. I'm talking 15, 16, 17. I knew what was going on."
As Aldridge sat in the audience engaged, Akles shifted her story toward herself. Her brother was involved in a gang, and her home at 162nd and Glisan was shot at on three different occasions, the last rendering it unlivable.
"This place was my support system," Akles said later at PAL. "It helped me cope."
Back on stage, she began to weep, and welcomed the comfort of Blazers veteran Jared Jeffries, who put his arm around her and encouraged her to continue. The PAL center was there for her, but it seemed as if nobody was there for the center. There were holes in the wall. The carpet was ripped. The gym covered in gum.
"We need someone to care and show us that we are worth saving," Akles told the crowd. "And a place that is in worse condition than a jail cell can't be the only place that cares about us. It's not fair that we have to suffer. It's not fair that we have to settle for less all because of where we live. People need to realize they can make a difference for us."
Aldridge was touched.
On his drive home that night, he called Traci Rose, the Blazers' vice president of community relations. He knew the date was approaching for the team's annual Harvest Dinner, which this year fed more than 6,000 in need, but he wanted to offer a more personal touch. He wanted to show Akles that there were people who cared.
This, Rose said, is the Aldridge so few get to see.
"He told me he related to her story, and wanted to do something about it," Rose said. "That's the thing about LaMarcus: He gets touched by something and he acts on it. So, we got to work."
Nine days later, on Monday, 100 boxes of food lined the PAL gym, freshly purchased from Fred Meyer. There were turkeys, stuffing, rolls, peas, juice, full pies. And soon, kids and parents filled the gym. As Aldridge handed out the meals and signed autographs, he made sure Akles was right by his side to share the limelight. On Wednesday night, when the Blazers opened to a sellout crowd against the Lakers, Akles was in attendance, as Aldridge's VIP guest.
"I'm hopeful what I did can help," Aldridge said. "I've done stuff before back home (in Dallas), but I've been wanting to do something here. And even though I've been here almost seven years, I don't know this city that well, because I'm such a homebody. But her story gave me a start."
And Aldridge emphasized that this was just a start. He said he plans to become more involved in the Portland community, particularly with food, and particularly around the holidays. He says there are tentative plans to do a similar event around the MLK Boulevard area in Northeast Portland.
Aldridge's most recent act of kindness is along the lines of what general manager Neil Olshey was hoping Aldridge would start to embrace. He has told his star that more goes into being a franchise player than putting up 20 points and 10 rebounds. There are expectations to become a part of the community, to lead in different ways.
"The next step for LaMarcus is to understand that as a franchise centerpiece, you are under a microscope," Olshey said. "And right now, because we don't have a lot of other All-Star players on our team, he's going to absorb a lot of that attention, and there's a responsibility that comes with that, in terms of carrying a franchise not just on the court, but off the court as well."
Olshey wasn't talking about going out and handing out turkeys or providing coats as much as he was imploring Aldridge to embrace being in the public eye a little more. He had to urge and coach Aldridge, for instance, to speak at the Hoops & Heart event before Akles.
"I fought it every bit of the way," Aldridge said. "But I understand where he is coming from. In the NBA, if you speak more, they will use you more and that will make it easier to be more marketable, which would make it better for this team as well as myself."
But what happened after he spoke at the Hoops & Heart event had nothing to do with Olshey, or his image, and more to do with Akles hitting a direct nerve.
"It was nothing about trying to look good or getting people to like me," Aldridge said. "It was more along the lines of me understanding her story. When people can make me understand something, that's big, And her story really made me picture it, because I grew up in that situation.
"It's a horrible feeling when you don't know where your next meal is coming from. You feel helpless. And I feel like I grew up in the same type of situation she talked about -- where you really don't feel like people are on your side. So after hearing her story, I wanted to do something, wanted to show she's not by herself over there."
Sometimes, that can make a franchise player even more special.
http://media.oregonlive.com/blazers_impact/photo/11799113-large.jpg
After hearing a speech from 17-year-old Shayanne Akles (center), LaMarcus Aldridge decided to help, buying and delivering 100 turkey dinners to families in need in Northeast Portland.
Sometimes, more goes into being a franchise player than putting up impressive statistics on the court.
So even though LaMarcus Aldridge was a catalyst in the Trail Blazers' season-opening victory against the Lakers on Wednesday, hitting his first five shots and finishing with 19 points, he made perhaps an even bigger impact earlier in the week, when he put up a different set of impressive numbers.
Aldridge, the 27-year-old who has become the franchise centerpiece in his seventh season in Portland, bought and personally delivered 100 turkey dinners to Northeast Portland families in need.
"They needed to see that someone cares about them," Aldridge said.
Aldridge is an intensely personal and guarded man. He is more wary than willing while interacting. But behind those barriers lies a huge heart, and a couple of weeks ago, the words of a young Portland woman seeped past his hardened veneer and latched on to that heart, inspiring him to spend the $5,000 to buy the food.
Her name is Shayanne Akles, a 17-year-old junior at Parkrose High, who on most days is bouncing about the Police Activities League center on the corner of Northeast 172nd and Glisan, easy with a smile and quick to help tutor a fellow student with English homework.
"I'm really good at English," she says.
But the first time Aldridge saw Akles, she was weeping.
It was Oct. 20, at the Trail Blazers' annual Hoops & Heart dinner, a fundraiser and auction for the team's Make It Better Foundation. In front of Blazers players, front office staff and season-ticket holders, Akles was on stage, talking about the importance of the PAL center. Not only does it provide a place for kids to play basketball and air hockey, she said, but it also offers kids computer training and tutoring. For many, it is often the only place where they get a meal that day.
Suddenly, Aldridge became enraptured. As a youth, he said he often went to sleep hungry. His mother worked hard, but sometimes, it wasn't enough to feed him and his brother.
"There would be times we would have to wait a couple of days, until she got paid again," Aldridge said. "All the way through high school. My mom worked hard on her own, but there were nights she just didn't have enough money to have food. So, I know how it feels. It wasn't like I was 5 or 6. I'm talking 15, 16, 17. I knew what was going on."
As Aldridge sat in the audience engaged, Akles shifted her story toward herself. Her brother was involved in a gang, and her home at 162nd and Glisan was shot at on three different occasions, the last rendering it unlivable.
"This place was my support system," Akles said later at PAL. "It helped me cope."
Back on stage, she began to weep, and welcomed the comfort of Blazers veteran Jared Jeffries, who put his arm around her and encouraged her to continue. The PAL center was there for her, but it seemed as if nobody was there for the center. There were holes in the wall. The carpet was ripped. The gym covered in gum.
"We need someone to care and show us that we are worth saving," Akles told the crowd. "And a place that is in worse condition than a jail cell can't be the only place that cares about us. It's not fair that we have to suffer. It's not fair that we have to settle for less all because of where we live. People need to realize they can make a difference for us."
Aldridge was touched.
On his drive home that night, he called Traci Rose, the Blazers' vice president of community relations. He knew the date was approaching for the team's annual Harvest Dinner, which this year fed more than 6,000 in need, but he wanted to offer a more personal touch. He wanted to show Akles that there were people who cared.
This, Rose said, is the Aldridge so few get to see.
"He told me he related to her story, and wanted to do something about it," Rose said. "That's the thing about LaMarcus: He gets touched by something and he acts on it. So, we got to work."
Nine days later, on Monday, 100 boxes of food lined the PAL gym, freshly purchased from Fred Meyer. There were turkeys, stuffing, rolls, peas, juice, full pies. And soon, kids and parents filled the gym. As Aldridge handed out the meals and signed autographs, he made sure Akles was right by his side to share the limelight. On Wednesday night, when the Blazers opened to a sellout crowd against the Lakers, Akles was in attendance, as Aldridge's VIP guest.
"I'm hopeful what I did can help," Aldridge said. "I've done stuff before back home (in Dallas), but I've been wanting to do something here. And even though I've been here almost seven years, I don't know this city that well, because I'm such a homebody. But her story gave me a start."
And Aldridge emphasized that this was just a start. He said he plans to become more involved in the Portland community, particularly with food, and particularly around the holidays. He says there are tentative plans to do a similar event around the MLK Boulevard area in Northeast Portland.
Aldridge's most recent act of kindness is along the lines of what general manager Neil Olshey was hoping Aldridge would start to embrace. He has told his star that more goes into being a franchise player than putting up 20 points and 10 rebounds. There are expectations to become a part of the community, to lead in different ways.
"The next step for LaMarcus is to understand that as a franchise centerpiece, you are under a microscope," Olshey said. "And right now, because we don't have a lot of other All-Star players on our team, he's going to absorb a lot of that attention, and there's a responsibility that comes with that, in terms of carrying a franchise not just on the court, but off the court as well."
Olshey wasn't talking about going out and handing out turkeys or providing coats as much as he was imploring Aldridge to embrace being in the public eye a little more. He had to urge and coach Aldridge, for instance, to speak at the Hoops & Heart event before Akles.
"I fought it every bit of the way," Aldridge said. "But I understand where he is coming from. In the NBA, if you speak more, they will use you more and that will make it easier to be more marketable, which would make it better for this team as well as myself."
But what happened after he spoke at the Hoops & Heart event had nothing to do with Olshey, or his image, and more to do with Akles hitting a direct nerve.
"It was nothing about trying to look good or getting people to like me," Aldridge said. "It was more along the lines of me understanding her story. When people can make me understand something, that's big, And her story really made me picture it, because I grew up in that situation.
"It's a horrible feeling when you don't know where your next meal is coming from. You feel helpless. And I feel like I grew up in the same type of situation she talked about -- where you really don't feel like people are on your side. So after hearing her story, I wanted to do something, wanted to show she's not by herself over there."
Sometimes, that can make a franchise player even more special.