NEW YORK – As the season of giving approaches, the National Basketball Association (NBA) will launch a comprehensive “NBA Give BIG” program that aims to encourage great work in the community during the holidays. The message is simple: Give. Share. Inspire.

Today, the league introduced its first-ever social media photo mosaic at www.NBA.com/NBAGiveBIG to celebrate and inspire charitable efforts around the world. By using the hashtag #NBAGiveBIG on Twitter and Instagram, fans can join the teams, players and all members of the NBA family by sharing photos, videos and stories from their seasonal community projects from Nov. 25 through Dec. 31.

In keeping with tradition, all 30 NBA teams and all 17 NBA Development League (NBA D-League) teams will host charitable events throughout the holiday season, including meal service, food drives and toy drives. Players, coaches and front office staff will post highlights from their events using the hashtag #NBAGiveBIG.

“The holidays are an important time to help those less fortunate and do what you can to support your community,” said Todd Jacobson, NBA Senior Vice President, Social Responsibility. “This year, we’re inviting fans to join us in sharing stories of giving back to hopefully inspire others around the world.”

The campaign will be amplified exponentially through the NBA’s global reach of more than 475 million fans and followers on social media. By including the hashtag of a favorite team’s three-letter abbreviation (i.e. #OKC, #BKN, #BOS) within social media posts, fans can mark the location of their goodwill efforts. The NBA will aggregate all photos on its website at www.NBA.com/NBAGiveBIG and allow users to sort charitable activity by team to learn how people are giving back in each city.

At retail, the league is working with all DICK’S Sporting Goods locations nationwide and Spalding® to donate basketballs to NBA Cares community partners. For every NBA Spalding basketball purchased at DICK’S Sporting Goods through Dec. 24, a basketball will be given to charities such as St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the YMCA.

“Finding partners with shared values is vital when participating in a great program like ‘NBA Give BIG,’” said Chris Brennan, NBA Senior Vice President, Retail Marketing and Development. “By partnering with DICK’S Sporting Goods and Spalding, we’ll be able to deliver this integrated, cause-related retail activation to fans throughout the country.”

On Christmas Day, each of the 10 playing teams will host a gift exchange where all players and head coaches will remain on court following the national anthem to provide a holiday surprise to youth from a local community organization.

NBA Christmas Day Schedule:

Time (ET)         Game                                                               Network

Noon                Chicago Bulls at Brooklyn Nets                           ESPN, ESPN Mobile TV, WatchESPN

2:30 p.m.          Oklahoma City Thunder at New York Knicks        ABC

5 p.m.               Miami Heat at Los Angeles Lakers                       ABC

8 p.m.               Houston Rockets at San Antonio Spurs                 ESPN, ESPN Mobile TV, WatchESPN

10:30 p.m.         L.A. Clippers at Golden State Warriors                 ESPN, ESPN Mobile TV, WatchESPN

About NBA Cares
NBA Cares is the league’s global social responsibility program that builds on the NBA’s mission of addressing important social issues in the United States and around the world. Through this program, the NBA, its teams and players have donated more than $225 million to charity, completed more than 2.6 million hours of hands-on community service, and created more than 830 places where kids and families can live, learn, or play, in 23 countries and territories on five continents. NBA Cares works with internationally recognized youth-serving programs that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes, including: KaBOOM!, Special Olympics, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, UNICEF, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Share Our Strength and GLAAD.

About Spalding
A Division of Russell Brands, LLC, Spalding is the largest basketball equipment supplier in the world, and America’s first baseball company. Spalding is the official basketball of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), the official backboard of the NBA and NCAA, the official baseball of the Little League World Series, the official volleyball of the King of the Beach Volleyball Tour and the official football of Pop Warner. In addition to being the leading producer and marketer of basketballs, footballs, volleyballs and soccer balls, Spalding produces softballs under the Dudley brand. The SPALDING® and DUDLEY® trademarks are owned by Russell Brands, LLC. For more information, visit www.spalding.com.

About DICK’s Sporting Goods, Inc.
DICK’S Sporting Goods, Inc. is an authentic full-line sports and fitness specialty omni-channel retailer offering a broad assortment of high quality, competitively-priced brand name sporting goods equipment, apparel and footwear in a specialty store environment. The Company also owns and operates Golf Galaxy, LLC, a golf specialty retailer. As of October 25, 2013, the Company operated more than 540 DICK’S Sporting Goods stores in 45 states, 81 Golf Galaxy stores in 30 states and eCommerce websites and catalog operations for DICK’S Sporting Goods and Golf Galaxy.