By Rashad Miller
The Dallas Mavericks and Jefferson Dental & Orthodontics hosted children at the Mavericks’ practice facility on Wednesday evening. Fresh off a win against the Los Angeles Lakers the night before, the players along with the ManiAACs, Champ, and the D-Town Crew hosted children from Vogel Alcove, a nonprofit agency which provides therapeutic early childhood services, school-age programs and family support services for homeless children ages six weeks to 12 years old, and their families.
The children were greeted by the Mavericks entertainment group, CEO Cynt Marshall, and the team themselves including NBA All-Star Luka Doncic and rookie Dereck Lively II, who assisted Santa Claus in a reading of”‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”. The youngsters had the opportunity to play on the Mavs practice court, write letters to Kris Kringle and design Christmas trees and cookies with the Mavs players and staff before being presented with gifts from their wish lists. They also received gift bags from the team and dental kits from Jefferson Dental.
Two-way rookies Dexter Dennis and Greg Brown III would express their excitement in spending time with the munchkins and giving their time and effort to make the holidays memorable for the little ones. Dennis would add to that elation by saying that he, “probably had a little more fun than the kids decorating” and “just seeing the kids enjoy themselves and get gifts. I know everyone’s not fortunate, so being able to see that and for them to hear a story [from Santa] was great.” Brown would chime in that, “Santa was proud” and he’s been good this year.
Maverick forward Richaun Holmes chimed in to add a story about a child who received a bike that night.
“She was excited the whole time, just happy to be here. Just to see her light up like that, that was the dopest part of the night.” When it comes to who had the better Christmas tree design between him and Dexter Dennis? “His design was pretty decent, but was it better than number 20’s [Holmes’ jersey number]? Absolutely not.”
The Mavs Care initiative is, “the Dallas Mavericks’ strive to be champions on the court and in the community. They are dedicated to building a stronger community through educational programs, health and wellness initiatives, environmental efforts, support for military veterans and first responders, racial equity and social justice programs and grants to nonprofit organizations. Through their community programs and the Mavs Foundation, they are changing lives in North Texas and have impacted thousands of children, families and communities.” Learn more at mavs.com/Community.
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