Former Golden State Warrior Festus Ezeli holding All-Star Week event in SF to help kids in Africa
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco will be on full display this weekend for the NBA All-Star Game.
Events are taking place all week leading up to the weekend, and some of those happenings involve helping kids in other countries.
"We're playing in a celebrity pickleball tournament, that's on Saturday," Former Golden State Warrior Festus Ezeli said. "It's Terrell Owens, it's Anthony Anderson, it's Chris Mullen. I'm going to be paired up with John Isner who is a pro tennis player."
Ezeli is hyped up about the upcoming All-Star Weekend in San Francisco.
With the big weekend comes a week full of fun events, some of which are near and dear to Ezeli's heart, being that he came to America at the age of 14 from Nigeria.
MORE: Here's what to expect when NBA All-Star 2025 comes to Bay Area for 1st time in 25 years this weekend
"My job now is to find ways to support other kids like me and make the same opportunities for them," he said.
On Thursday, Ezel and others will be involved in "From The Court to The Kitchen." It is an event highlighting local Bay Area food while raising money for kids at the same time.
Among them are children from an orphanage in Cameroon. Ezeli's Vision Cameroon group worked with those children and 120-150 kids at a basketball camp last summer.
"We teach them basketball skills and so many other leadership skills," said Suzanne Zadeh who is a development advisor with VisionC.
Even Klay Thompson was there, packing backpacks at one point. Charlotte Hornets forward Grant Williams was there too. Ezeli remembers one child in particular.
"He didn't even have shoes, he had flip-flops on," Ezeli said. "That is the hunger that people have for the game, that is the hunger that people have for the opportunities."
Zadeh described her interaction with a young boy who was the MVP at the basketball camp.
"He mentioned that I'm so grateful for my life, even though he was coming from a family that was not living in a really good condition," Zadeh said.
With the NBA on full display worldwide this weekend in San Francisco, it's possible that one day these kids could make it to an NBA All-Star game.
Here's more information if you're interested in attending From the Court to the Kitchen this All-Star week, or if you're interested in learning more about Vision Cameroon.
