The team's annual Children's Hospital Visit is one of the community events that the players enjoy the most. (Getty)

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March 6, 2008

PART ONE OF A TWO-PART SERIES

MILWAUKEE -- As the Milwaukee Bucks celebrate their 40th anniversary, fans can take great pride in the fact that the franchise has the sixth-best all-time winning percentage in National Basketball Association history.

A glance toward the Bradley Center's rafters will yield the 1971 NBA Championship banner along with 13 others commemorating Milwaukee's division championships.

Beyond all of those great achievements, Bucks fans can be grateful, too, for the commitment the organization has shown the community since its inception back in 1968.

When Sidney Moncrief visited Milwaukee to have his No. 4 Bucks jersey rededicated earlier this season, he reminisced that among his all-time favorite memories of his Bucks career were the many times he visited with fans on his way from the Milwaukee Arena to his car, usually parked in a lot adjacent to the McDonald's restaurant across the street.

The Bucks have long since moved out of the Arena and into the Bradley Center, which stands where that McDonald's once did. But anyone who believes contemporary professional athletes sneak out the back door after games, drive their luxury rides home and seclude themselves there between games hasn't spent much time around town.

Dating back to the days of the McDonald's parking lot, the Bucks have not only maintained their connection to the community, but have raised the bar much higher than many other professional sports franchises in that regard.

I have had the opportunity to accompany the Bucks on community outings a number of times, and I have never seen a player approach these events less than whole-heartedly -- even if the game the previous night happened to be an unpleasant one.

Some of these outings are fun-filled, such as the Bucks' YMCA Youth Basketball Clinic, their Southeastern Wisconsin Special Olympics Basketball Clinic, and the PCC/Bucks Golf Tournament for Cystic Fibrosis. They are always a great time not only for the children, but for Bucks players and coaches alike.

There are many other outings, however, that leave profound impressions on both the philanthropists and their beneficiares.

Bucks guard Charlie Bell, a husband and father of two, lists the Bucks' annual visits to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin as his favorite experience out of all the team's community outreach programs.

"We've gone to see some really sick kids -- kids who will probably never get a chance to even come to a game," Bell said. "Some of them didn't even have long to live.

"It was touching. Those experiences really touch your heart. And they make me think about my kids and how fortunate we are, not just to be in the NBA, and living a dream, but how fortunate we are just to be healthy."

These visits stir up the emotions of not only the patients, but their visitors.

"We'll go and see some little kids who probably have no idea what's going on," Bell said. "It just hurts your heart just to think about it. You try not to cry. You try not to let it show. But the same time, it's touching to see."

Some of the patients are so young that they don't comprehend who the Bucks are, but the players and coaches know what a difference they make with their presence.

"Sometimes the parents get more excited to see us than the kids -- especially the really young ones," Bell said. "They get so much bad news that to see us just show up gives them something positive.

"It's good for them, because there are times when they really need a pick-me-up, too, something to help them through the day. Anytime we get the opportunity to do that, we welcome it."

The hospital visits have also left indelible impressions on Bucks forward Bobby Simmons.

"During my first year in Milwaukee, we went to the intensive care unit to visit the kids around Christmas time," Simmons recalled. "Most of them weren't going to be able to go home for the holidays. Some of them were having surgeries right before the holidays. It was great to be able to visit with them and cheer them up."

Simmons remembered one particular patient most of all.

"One of the kids we visited said that Tracy McGrady was one of his favorite players," Simmons said. "Right after the holidays, right after New Year's, Skip (Robinson, the Bucks' Director of Community Relations/Player Development), got word back to us that the kid had passed.

"Things like that, you don't forget."

Simmons looks forward to each opportunity that arises for him and his teammates to make a difference within the community, especially when there are youngsters involved.

Beyond the basketball clinics and hospital visits, the Bucks enthusiastically participate in the NBA's Read to Achieve program, the Milwaukee Bucks Reading Challenge, the Second Harvest of Wisconsin PBJ Challenge, the Milwaukee Bucks Reading and Learning Center, Holiday Food Basket Distributions, "Snuggle Up and Read" and the Sam's Hope Literacy Foundation Book Giveaway; Bucks Players School Supply Distributions, the Fire Safety Program, the Milwaukee Bucks/Blood Center of Wisconsin Blood Drive, Milwaukee Bucks Black History Month Visits, and appearances at Summerfest and the Wisconsin State Fair.

"It's a great opportunity for us that not everyone has," Simmons said. "We have to take advantage of those opportunities as far as us being role models.

"I'm always happy to do whatever it takes to help the community itself on behalf of the organization."

The Bucks participate in a wide range of programs beyond those mentioned above. Bucks.com visitors can find a comprehensive list right on the Web site by clicking on "Community" and scrolling down to "Programs."

Keep reading: Part II