NBA charity game brings relief to hundreds

01:58 PM CDT on Monday, September 12, 2005

From 11 News Staff Reports

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Hundreds of Katrina evacuees got to escape in a different way as they attended the NBA Hurricane Relief game Sunday.

The game was the brain-child of former Rockets guard Kenny Smith, who wanted to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

KHOU-TV

Hurricane evacuee Donald Expose, 12, enjoyed the NBA charity game Sunday night.

Smith was able to put together a game with some big names like Kobe Bryant, Charles Barkley, Lebron James and Kevn Garnett.

Evacuees from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama lined up early to get the free tickets to the charity event. For them the game was a couple of hours away from the reality of their lives.

"My two sons, they like Kobe Bryant," said survivor Linda Ward, "She likes basketball, too. We all do, that's our reason for coming.

"These guys, you know, I don't think they get enough credit for what they do off the basketball court. They do some real caring and they're guys that have great hearts," says Rockets guard Tracy McGrady.

The mother of Donald Expose, 12, is missing. He traveled from New Orleans alone on an evacuation bus and was glad to be at the game. It was a frightening experience for him. He put things in pespective. "It was, but I got through it and now I'm all right. Just think, like a couple of weeks ago, I was swimming in a flood, and now I'm at a basketball game," he says.

Monday, he's going to visit a museum.