By Hailey Salvian
It’s been 15 years since Jerome (Junk Yard Dog) Williams donned a Toronto Raptors jersey, but that hasn’t stopped the 44-year-old former NBA player from giving back to the community as much as he can.
“It’s important for me to give back to the city of Toronto that gave so much to me and my career and continues to do so,” said Williams in an interview with NBA Canada.
Williams and other NBA alumni descended on Toronto in March for the 2018 Tournament of Stars in support of West Park Healthcare Centre. In its second year, the event is a celebrity basketball tournament featuring teams that are tasked with raising money for the local hospital. In turn, teams get to draft, and play alongside, a “celebrity”.
This year’s celebrities included Williams – the former Raptors fan favourite who not surprisingly was the tournament’s No. 1 draft selection – Mo Peterson, Rashard Lewis, Charles Oakley and five-time NBA champion Ron Harper to name a few.
For fans and participating players, it was fun to get autographs, photos and brush elbows with retired NBAers. For the former pros, they were more than happy to return to the court for a day, and also lend their names to a very worthwhile cause.
West Park is a Toronto-based hospital that focuses on rehabilitative medicine and helping people recover from life-changing events, accidents or illnesses. The hospital was founded in 1904 and is undergoing rebuilding and expansion to handle more patients. The funds from the Tournament of Stars go directly to the expansion project.
“(We are) trying to raise money for West Park and what they’re doing to rehab their facilities to bring them up to speed,” said Williams. “It’s just a great opportunity to come and give back in a way that makes NBA alumni feel comfortable.”
Look! It’s @JunkYardDogJW helping out @westparkbball #getyourlifeback pic.twitter.com/ijsBMWTDnK
— West Park Healthcare (@westparkhcc) March 24, 2018
Like Williams, Peterson was eager to give back to the city.
“Toronto is like a second home to me people in the country have given me so much that any time they ask me to do something I say yes,” said the man known as Mo Pete during his time as a Raptor.
“What West Park is doing for the community and the kids is tremendous, and I feel honoured to be a part of it.”
And it wasn’t just NBA alumni who hit the court. Pooch Hall, one of the current stars of the Ray Donovan television series who also appeared in The Game, trading in his acting chops for his hoops skills.
For Hall, making the 4,000-kilometre trip from Los Angeles to Toronto was personal.
“I have a daughter who has cerebral palsy who is in a wheelchair and can’t walk or talk,” said Hall. “So, if I can lend my services to a charity that is about helping people I want to do it.”
The event concluded with an all-celebrity game for the alumni to square off against one another.
“Playing basketball will always be our love,” said Williams.
“Even though we can’t always do it like we used to, it’s fun with the camaraderie and see your fellow alumni for a worthy cause.”
