Still Serving

By Adonal Foyle

During the NBA All-Star Weekend, I (along with Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat) was given awards for our service throughout the community. I have been in the league since 1997 and it still feels wonderful to be recognized for the work I do off the court.

I've been given awards for my community work by organizations as well as media outlets. But what's truly remarkable about this is this was an award given to me by my pears. When you're honored by the public, that's a great thing. But when your own peers recognize your work, I think that takes everything to another dimension in terms of this award being really special. It's like having your own friends say to you, "We see what you are doing and we appreciate you." And I think there is something very special about that.

Other than that, All-Star Weekend was a blast. Unfortunately, I had to witness two of my teammates place second in their respective events (Rashard Lewis in the three-point shootout and defending champion Dwight Howard in the slam dunk contest). But all the competitors were great.

As the first vice-president of the NBA Players Association, I had some union business to take care of. Of course, I served as an advocate for the players union and tried to figure out ways to preserve the integrity of this great game.

Phoenix is always a nice, warm place to go to. The weather always reminds me of being back home on the islands. And things are so spread out in Phoenix so it was nice that things didn't feel crowded and congested.

Now, it's back to the regular season. And make no mistake, we are going to be ready to finish the season strong.