CLEVELAND — Editor's note: the video in the player above is from a previous story.
Bragging rights won't be the only thing on the line when Team LeBron faces Team Durant in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game next weekend; the two teams will also be playing for a pair of charities with strong ties to Northeast Ohio.
As a part of the game's format, every quarter will count to support the two organizations, with Team LeBron representing the Kent State I PROMISE Scholars Program and Team Durant representing the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. The game's captains -- LeBron James and Kevin Durant -- announced which charities they would be representing during the NBA All-Star Game draft on Thursday night.
"These are my [I Promise School] kids who are now at Kent State who started in the I Promise program in third grade and now they're in college," James said. "They've been awarded full-time scholarships. In the first year, they had their room and board taken care of. And these are kids who came from the same walks of life that I did in Akron, Ohio.
"For them to have the opportunity to graduate college, to be on a college campus, for them to have an opportunity to live dreams that they didn't even believe or their families believed, this is something that I envisioned for a long time. And for it to become a reality now that I'm really up here playing for my kids that have been a part of my program for so long, it makes me extremely happy."
Added Durant of his cause: "I'm looking forward to going out there and representing them. They feed so many people -- 57 pounds of food to 400,000 people across Northeast Ohio. Looking forward to representing them and coming home with a W."
The NBA and State Farm will donate $1,900 for every assist made during the 2022 NBA All-Star Game, with the total amount split between the organizations. In total, nearly $1 million will be donated to both groups.
More information on the league's charitable efforts during NBA All-Star Weekend in Cleveland can be found at NBA.com.