Macau Special Olympics’ (MSO) young athletes were yesterday able to meet NBA stars who visited the Ngai Chun Service Complex at Seac Pai Van in Coloane as part of the Sands Cares community outreach programmes.
The one-day, Sands China-organised event featured Phoenix Suns President, General Manager and former NBA player James Jones; Suns legends Rex Chapman and Cedric Ceballos; and Jusuf Nurkić, who is from Bosnia and is the team’s Starting Centre. They learnt more about MSO’s services and centre and took part in activities such as assisting in a health check-up event and viewing ceramic artworks by MSO artist Che Kin Seng.
Speaking with the Post prior to the event, MSO’s CEO Hetzer Siu Yu Hong said the event aimed to create a platform for athletes to have fun and share happiness with people with intellectual disabilities.
Aside from showing the visitors around the community centre and introducing its services, Siu said that the event also aimed to help the visitors better understand the situation of those with intellectual disabilities and show them their talents through their artworks and products, among others. He noted that even if they are disadvantaged, they still have skills that can help them get a job and pursue a career, according to Siu.
Siu also told reporters that yesterday’s event showed that social welfare in Macau is “quite good”, adding he believed that the event let NBA stars and people from other parts of the world know what the “social welfare level is in Macau”.
Meanwhile, the NBA stars told reporters after the event that this was their first visit to Macau. Jones remarked that people in Macau are “extremely hospitable” and noted that a lot of its culture, sights, food and architecture are really well-balanced and unique. “You can’t find very many places in the world that are like this”.
Chapman added: “Macau has just been fantastic. It’s more tropical than I thought it would be, but a beautiful place, beautiful people and the food has been absolutely fantastic”. He said that being around the MSO athletes yesterday was also amazing.
On the event and MSO facility, Ceballos also told reporters: “You really can’t have a bad day being around individuals so special. They just brighten up your day. The fact that we’re able to turn that around to them is just huge. I think they inspire us, motivate us to be just as well, great, polite and as nice as they are so it’s been great.”
Nurkić echoed the same sentiments, adding: “I think it’s really important that they are part of our lives because they should be. They are the honest people of this planet.”
Moreover, in response to a question by the Post on his advice on improving in and staying consistent in basketball, he advised: “Whatever you wanna do, no matter if it is basketball or life or something that they wanna do in their careers, just take it seriously and do your best and everything else will guide you through”.
Suns legends Cedric Ceballos (2nd row, left to right), Rex Chapman, Phoenix Suns’ Starting Centre Jusuf Nurkić, Phoenix Suns President, General Manager and former NBA player James Jones, and the team’s mascot “Go the Gorilla” pose with Macau Special Olympics’ young athletes and their souvenirs at Ngai Chun Services Complex at Seac Pai Van yesterday. – Photo: Rui Pastorin
