As a child growing up in Oakland, Calif., in the 1970s, Antonio Davis used to pass the food bank in Emeryville but never paid it much attention.
Now he works there several days a week.
A McClymonds High School graduate whose professional basketball career spanned 16 years, three countries and four NBA teams, Davis returned to Oakland last year. His association with Coaching Corps, a volunteer organization that provides sports mentors to kids living in low-income communities, has led him back to the Emeryville food bank he used to pass routinely.
“I passed that place a thousand times and I would see people there and I would see the work that they were doing and I never really knew the impact that they were having,” Davis said of the food bank, the Emeryville Citizens Assistance Program. “I feel like they’re doing the kind of work that we should all be doing.”
With stay-at-home orders forcing the closure of schools, many families who depended on free and reduced school meals don’t know where their next meal will come from. Meanwhile, food banks across the country have seen an influx of people in need.
Because social distancing has limited its sports programs, Coaching Corps redeployed its volunteers in April to help support these food banks.
One of those volunteers is Davis, who pays multiple visits each week to the Emeryville food bank. He and more than a dozen daily volunteers are serving boxed meals that include grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy and meat to roughly 300 families a day, distributing 25 tons of food each week.
But before people like Davis stepped up, Bay Area food banks were in dire need of help. With his volunteer workforce nearly cut in half and demand for food at a high, Bobby Miller, director of the ECAP, asked Alameda County for help to find able bodies willing to help.
“We needed to figure out a way that we could keep the program open,” Miller said.
With its connections to low-income families, Coaching Corps decided this would be an ideal way for their volunteers to continue to give their time.
“Great coaches don’t leave kids in times of great need,” said Janet Carter, chief executive officer of Coaching Corps.
Davis, a 6-foot-9 forward who accumulated more than 9,000 points and 6,700 rebounds with the Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks from 1993 to 2006 wasn’t the type of volunteer that food-bank regulars were accustomed to seeing.
Though most people have to ask if Davis is a basketball player, others recognize the man behind the medical mask and hoodie and request an autograph. Either way, he’s happy to oblige. Miller complimented Davis for being a down-to-earth person who helps create “an uplifting atmosphere.”
On Davis’ first day volunteering, he was recognized by a man who went to high school in the East Bay at the same time he did. The man told Davis that the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic has put him in a tough spot, but that he was glad to see Davis helping in the community.
While working as a studio analyst for NBA TV and ESPN, Davis, 51, lived in Atlanta for nearly a decade. But when his grandmother died and his mother retired last year, he decided to move back to Oakland.
“It was just one of those life-changing moments where you start really understanding that the only important thing is the time you get to spend with the people you love,” Davis said.
He also vowed to get involved in his community, and was introduced to Coaching Corps by a friend. As a former NBA All-Star and president of the National Basketball Players Association, it was a perfect fit.
With food banks deemed an essential service, Davis and other Coaching Corps volunteers follow health officials’ guidelines, swapping out whistles for face masks, while handing out food to people in need. They now make up nearly half of the ECAP volunteers.
“They’ve provided us with that backup that we need to meet this challenge every day,” Miller said.
As 328,042 Californians filed for unemployment in the final week of April, the coronavirus crisis has hit low-income workers the hardest. Those who live paycheck-to-paycheck often cannot work remote, and cannot afford any loss of income.
“Even if the pandemic is over tomorrow, there is still going to be a tremendous need because people have been off work so long now,” Miller said. “The need for volunteers and food and supplies will go on for a long time.”
Though social distancing and pandemic conditions have made volunteering more complicated, food banks are still in need of workers. Those who are not of high-risk to contract COVID-19 can sign up to volunteer at several Bay Area sites. Those who can’t volunteer can still donate supplies.
“During these times, we need to band together,” Davis said. “Things are different for everybody, and they were screwed up before the coronavirus. So what can we do to pitch in and help?”
A few questions with Antonio Davis:
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— Do you have a specific memory of playing against Michael Jordan?
— He came back from just a two-year stint being away and his first game was against the Pacers. He played at Indiana against us that first game back and I was in awe of him being MJ and it was such a big media circus. There was so much energy around the game. He came back after being two years off and shot the ball almost 30 times (Jordan went 7 of 28 for 19 points). We were like, ‘What the hell, dude?’ We had to throw our scouting report out at halftime because he was just shooting that thing.
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— As someone who played overseas, what do you think about players choosing to go that route instead of college?
— You go over there and learn how to be a professional and play in a professional environment. Whereas, I don’t know how much of that happens at the college level. So I do think that’s a huge positive. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for going to college, but if that’s what it’s really about. I think kids should have to stay a couple years. That whole one-and-done stuff, to me, doesn’t work. They only go to school for a semester anyway. So if that’s the case, if it is just about basketball, and they have the ability, I think going overseas to play is not a bad idea.
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— Who are your favorite East Bay music acts?
— I’m a die-hard Tony! Toni! Toné! fan, Too $hort, E-40. Music is so heavy here and I think that’s one of the things I do miss being sheltered in place. I used to find little places that had live music on a Friday or Saturday and it was always so relaxing to be out and experience that music scene in such a low-key setting. So, hopefully we’ll be able to still do that.
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— Having played in Chicago but being from Oakland, what’s better, Zachary’s or actual Chicago deep dish?
— I’ve had Zachary’s pizza, but usually when I go there it’s not for the deep-dish pizza, but I have had it and it is very good, but I definitely will say Chicago pizza. You just can’t beat it.
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