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NBA Players Support Haiti Recovery

According to the latest news, in response to the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti in January, the NBA has been supporting UNICEF’s relief efforts by bringing attention to the crisis and much needed emergency assistance to the victims. Through NBA Cares, the league’s social responsibility initiative, the NBA family – the league, teams, players, and fans – responded rapidly to that nation’s dire need for assistance, and has already raised more than $3 million toward the relief efforts.

There are a lot of NBA players and legends who are contributing significant time, money, and energy. All 30 NBA teams are helping out as well. The league has also partnered with the National Basketball Players Association to raise and donate more than one million dollars to UNICEF and other relief organizations. These are just a few of the ways that the NBA and its teams and players are committed to helping Haiti.

Despite the generous response from the global community, there is more work to be done. Haiti, which is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere and has a population of 9.6 million, is in dire need of funds to provide safe water, temporary shelter systems and essential medical supplies. If you would like to donate to support Haiti, please click here to learn how you can best help.

How Tiger Woods’ Wife Discover the Affair

After Tiger Woods involved in what the media calls the most expensive car crash in history, not for what was damaged during the accident but for what followed afterwards, speculation about what exactly happened then continued to make the rounds. Investigative reporter Gerald Posner of The Daily Beast spoke to witnesses and close friends and now has the full account of how wife Elin Nordegren impersonated Tiger in a text message to his lover and how that unleashed the scandal that continues to grab headlines.

It started to precipitate a night before the night of the crash, two very reliable sources tell Posner under condition of anonymity. It was then that Tiger went to Elin and told her that the National Enquirer was about to run a story on his alleged love affair with Rachel Uchitel, claiming the account was false. He even convinced his wife to talk to Rachel on the phone who, in turn, told her the same: that it was all a lie. Then, on the night of the crash, Elin took Tiger’s phone and sent a few text messages to Rachel, who thought it was her lover at the other end.

“Just before Tiger’s affair with Rachel Uchitel was reported in the National Enquirer, he put Uchitel on the phone with his wife for a half-hour, so she could convince Elin the relationship was platonic. Elin confirmed her lingering suspicions about Tiger’s affair with Uchitel by impersonating her husband in text messages with Uchitel, prompting the rage that led to Woods fleeing his house. Tiger had taken the sedative Ambien that night, and was in a stupor when Elin woke him following her sting operation on Uchitel,” The Daily Beast writes based on the account of the two witnesses.

“After his wife’s wakeup, Tiger sent Uchitel a panicky text warning her that Elin had discovered the affair and implying that divorce was imminent. Elin quickly found this text as well, which precipitated her chasing him out of the house with a golf club. Tiger did not immediately return home when he was released from the hospital, likely explaining why Elin did not accede to much-publicized requests from visiting police officers to chat with Woods,” the publication goes on to say.

Right now, the two insiders say, Elin is waiting for Tiger to complete whatever treatment he’s following so that she can decide whether a divorce is the right course of action or not. She is usually very cool and controlled, they add, but her outburst, lashing out at her husband like that, truly shows how hard she took the idea of being cheated on.

Mutombo accepted awards and honors from Obama

The former basketball star Dikembe Mutombo stressed the importance of an education as he was honored last Monday with an award for improving lives in his native Congo, NBA news reported.

Mutombo said he sold fruit and vegetables for about $1 a day in order to pay his school fee in Congo. He briefly studied medicine at Georgetown University before his basketball talents were discovered. He graduated from the university with dual degrees in linguistics and diplomacy. Mutombo played for six NBA teams, was the league’s top defensive player four times and was selected for eight All-Star games during his career.

His alma mater presented him with the Coach John Thompson Jr. Legacy of a Dream Award during an annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Mutombo said as he accepted the award, “you never know what direction your life will take you or what road you will travel, but your chances of success are certainly greater with an education than without one.”

The foundation has worked to combat childhood diseases in Congo. It also opened a hospital in Kinshasa, which has served more than 25,000 patients.

President Barack Obama praised Mutombo for giving back to his nation’s people and honoring King’s legacy of service. Obama said the 18-year NBA veteran was attacking problems in Africa in “with the same ferocity with which he used to block shots in the NBA.”

Hollywood Stars Aid Help to Haiti Victims

According to the news Hollywood actor George Clooney is to present a telethon to raise money for the victims of the Haiti earthquake. The event – which will feature pleas for cash from US celebrities – will be broadcast on MTV on 22 January.

Celebrity couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have pledged $1m from their charitable foundation to the Doctors Without Borders organisation. While, Singer Madonna has donated $250,000 to Partners In Health and has urged her fans to “act now”. “I urge all of my friends and fans around the world to join me collectively to match my contribution or give in any way you can,” she said.

Clooney and Madonna join a number of celebrities calling for donations to help the estimated three million injured and made homeless by the disaster.

In addition, Coldplay singer Chris Martin has asked for donations through Oxfam and the charity’s global ambassador Scarlett Johansson has also appealed for contributions. TV star Oprah Winfrey and actor Ben Stiller have both made appeals, while champion cyclist Lance Armstrong’s LiveStrong Foundation has pledged $250,000 to help Haiti’s recovery.

Haiti-born musician Wyclef Jean is also said to have raised more than $1m (£612,000) for the disaster relief effort. And, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, organisers of Sunday’s Golden Globe awards in Los Angeles, have pledged $100,000 to Jean’s Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund.

Jackson ‘hopeful’ that Artest will be back at Lakers on Tuesday

According to the news, Lakers coach Phil Jackson says he is “hopeful” Ron Artest will rejoin the team in Los Angeles for Tuesday’s game against Golden State. Speaking before the Lakers played the Phoenix Suns Monday night, Jackson said Artest still was experiencing some dizziness.

Last Christmas Day, Artest sustained a concussion and injured his left elbow in a fall at his home. The team said Artest tripped over a box and fell down stairs. He did not travel with the Lakers on their two-game trip to Sacramento and Phoenix.

The 6-foot-7 forward is averaging 12.1 points and 4.8 rebounds in his first season with the Lakers after signing as a free agent. Jackson said his information on Artest’s condition came through the team trainer.

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