Baseball Star Shoots Hoops For Charity

Detroit Tigers’ leadoff man and center fielder Curtis Granderson will swap his baseball bat for a basketball later this month to raise money for his Grand Kids Foundation. Granderson will join fellow Tiger Nate Robertson and others to hoop it up on January 26 for the inaugural Curtis Granderson/Grand Kids Foundation Celebrity Basketball Game at Avondale High School in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

The game will pit current and former athletes from the Detroit area against athletes from the Flint area, with Granderson coaching the Detroit team and Robertson coaching the Flint team. Halftime excitement will come in the form in a three-point shootout between Granderson and Robertson. Each will represent a fan selected at random, and the winner will enjoy lunch with Granderson before joining him for a private batting practice session at Comerica Park.

“I am not only excited for this event because I finally get to showcase my basketball skills, but I am excited because I believe this game will begin to provide us with the financial resources to make a large impact in the inner cities, specifically Detroit and Flint,” said Granderson.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Grand Kids Foundation, which Granderson established to help inner-city students in Chicago, Detroit, and elsewhere. The foundation helps provide educational resources for schools and students in need while establishing scholarship programs in Detroit and Flint, and providing equipment for inner-city athletics programs.

“The importance of education is something I cannot stress enough to our nation’s youth, and I want to help find ways to ease the burden within some of these inner city schools while also striving to make learning more fun,” said the 26-year-old. “Facilities and supplies are old and worn, classrooms are overcrowded, and scholarship programs are limited. This celebrity basketball game can help to change that.”

The list of participants includes former NFL stars Tyrone Wheatley, Andre Weathers, and Courtney Hawkins, former NBA sharpshooters Willie Burton and Jeff Grayer, UFC competitor Rashad Evans, and professional boxer Anthony Dirrell. Granderson and other participants will take part in an autograph session following the game. Tickets for the game cost $15 for adults and $10 for children aged 10 and under, and are available at www.grandkidsfoundation.org. Admission for the postgame autograph session is an additional $10. The doors will open at 5 p.m. ET, with tipoff scheduled for 6 p.m. ET.