When I was in college at NYU, I played pickup basketball in New York City. It was pre-Guiliani, and games were pretty wild. I remember more than once standing around waiting for a player who was off somewhere re-upping the amount of cocaine in his bloodstream. I remember players hours out of the penitentiary, kicking and biting people. I also remember great things like a J. Crew model (the guy with the swept-back red hair, from like 1993) being a killer player. And there was some old point guard I knew only as James, who probably spent ten afternoons as my teammate, teaching me stuff that I still use today.
Recently, I heard about a public/private effort to fix up a lot of courts in New York City. Seemed pretty cool to me. I was surprised, however, to learn that the driving force behind it was an NBA agent, Marc Cornstein, and his wife Natasha.
She agreed to explain.
Agents? Doing good deeds? What? I mean, aren't agents supposed to be slimy and heartless? How did this happen?
For the past ten years, we have prided ourselves on representing athletes in an ethical manner and have built one of the most successful independent practices in our industry. For us, it is a privilege to be part of the professional basketball community and to have had the opportunity to travel the world, meet and work with exceptional people, whether they are clients, team management, members of the media, league representatives, fans, etc.
In celebration of our 10th year in the industry we established The Courts Of Dreams Foundation as a way to give back to the community that we love and to the community that has brought so much joy to our lives.
Through the work of our foundation, we hope to improve the lives of children by creating safe, beautiful environments in which they can explore the game of basketball and the values that the sport teaches such as teamwork and mutual respect and to continue to build love for the game.
The core assumption here is that a lot of courts in NYC need fixing up, right? Is that true?
The New York City Parks Department has more than 700 outdoor basketball courts and a significant percentage of them are in need of attention and repair. We made a presentation to NYC Sports Commissioner Kenneth J. Podziba who in turn introduced us to the Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe. We presented our plan and requested that the City match our efforts dollar for dollar. The City was incredibly receptive to our foundation's mission, agreed to the match and we are now working in partnership to rehabilitate the City's outdoor basketball courts. Both Commissioners Benepe and Podziba are also serving on our Advisory Board which we feel is a testament to their commitment to the project.
We were inspired by and modeled our organization after another incredibly successful foundation called "Take The Field" that partnered with the City of New York to restore the City's baseball fields. The program was so successful that it no longer exists because all of the City's fields were successfully restored. Our goal is to raise enough funds to help rehabilitate all of the New York City courts in need of repair (and eventually, spread this effort nationwide).
I notice you have ESPN's Chad Ford on the advisory panel. And I know in his academic life, he is an expert in sports as a tool for peace. Is that, in any way, what this is about?
Chad Ford has been a great addition to our Board and deeply understands and advocates the power of sport to improve people's lives.
How does this work? If lots of money is raised, and lots of courts are fixed up, what is the chain of events that ensues, and who benefits?
We believe that by creating beautiful, safe environments where children and adults can play basketball, we will improve the overall well being of our communities.
Who else is involved?
We have been overwhelmed by the generosity and receptiveness of our peers in every facet of the industry. We are especially grateful to the City of New York and the NBA for their support as well as to Donnie Walsh and Kiki Vandeweghe for serving on our Advisory Board and to our incredible corporate sponsors, The Sports Club/LA, Adidas, Vitamin Water and Topps.
There will be an event marking the launch of the program in New York on October 25. Details online.
UPDATE: Chad Ford e-mails: "I think once Court of Dreams begins to expand and starts matching building courts in places like Africa, the Middle East and the war torn Balkans, the opportunities for this program to promote peace increase. Whenever you create spaces where people of all walks of life can come together and take part in a meaningful experience together, the seeds of peace are planted."
UPDATE: Natasha Cornstein updates with word that Nets Yi Jianlian and Jarvis Hayes will be at the October 25 event.
