NEW YORK – Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young has received the January NBA Cares Community Assist Award presented by Kaiser Permanente in recognition of his efforts to impact the lives of youth, families and those in need in Georgia and Oklahoma, the NBA announced today.  The award recognizes a player each month who best reflects the passion that the league and NBA players share for giving back to their communities.

To tip off 2020, Young helped alleviate financial hardship for Atlanta families by partnering with RIP Medical Debt to relieve insurmountable health expenses.  Young donated $10,000 through the Trae Young Foundation, to help eliminate more than $1 million of medical debt for nearly 600 individuals throughout Atlanta.

Additionally, Young has provided youth in his native Oklahoma with a place to develop their skills and learn the values of the game through the Trae Young Basketball Academy, and has also helped promote education, inclusion, health and wellness across Atlanta through his Trae Young Foundation.  Established in 2019 with the focus of generating awareness for mental health and cyber and social media bullying, the foundation aims to positively impact children and adults facing mental health challenges through education and research.  Young and his foundation are also partnering with additional health and youth-serving organizations across Atlanta.

“It’s very important to me that I use my platform to make a difference and give back in any way I can,” Young said.  “Working with kids across the city is not only a rewarding and inspiring experience, but something that I genuinely love to do.  The city of Atlanta and everyone in it has welcomed and supported me with open arms from the very beginning and I’m honored to give back to the community every chance I get.”

NBA Global Ambassador Dikembe Mutombo will present the award to Young during an oncourt ceremony before the Hawks’ home game tomorrow night against the Dallas Mavericks (7:30 p.m. ET).   In addition, Kaiser Permanente and the NBA will donate $10,000 on Young’s behalf to Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta.

The NBA Cares Community Assist Award presented by Kaiser Permanente recognizes an NBA player each month who best reflects the passion that the league and its players share for giving back to their communities.  It honors the standard set by NBA Legend David Robinson, who improved the community piece by piece.  At the end of the 2019-20 regular season, the Seasonlong NBA Cares Community Assist Award winner will be announced at the 2020 NBA Awards presented by Kia.  To learn more, please visit http://www.nba.com/communityassist/.