A couple of New York-born ballers will spend the day tomorrow giving back to the community, reports Ian Begley of ESPN. Chris McCullough, raised in the Bronx, and rookie Isaiah Whitehead, who, of course, is from Brooklyn, will give away backpacks and school supplies at MCU Park from 4-6PM on September 7th.
Always good to see the NBA guys from New York giving back to the community: pic.twitter.com/lY2BBFaxQ5
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) September 6, 2016
Although the two have yet to find their niche in the NBA, it’s always special when athletes reach back out to the communities that helped raise them. Since they moved to Brooklyn in 2012, the Nets have struggled to find an identity, but an emergence from McCullough or Whitehead would certainly quicken that process. No matter how well he plays in 2016-2017, Whitehead has likely established himself as a fan-favorite in Brooklyn already thanks to plenty of summer events alongside new head coach Kenny Atkinson.
McCullough, who missed 58 games last season as he recovered from a torn ACL, averaged 4.7 points and 2.8 rebounds per game and will just have newcomers Trevor Booker and Anthony Bennett ahead of him on the depth chart. A wonderful video from Fresh Focus Sports followed McCullough around his Bronx neighborhood in July — we highly recommend it if you haven’t checked it out yet:
Under the tutelage of Atkinson, both McCullough and Whitehead should see ample opportunity to develop this season in Brooklyn. While the Nets have looked for the franchise’s next long-term point guard since Deron Williams was bought out in 2015, they’ve rotated through power forwards en masse — Kris Humphries, Reggie Evans, Kevin Garnett, Andray Blatche, Thaddeus Young — over the last five seasons.
