Mercury Players Set for NBA All-Star

While Suns stars Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire will be making their presence felt on the court during the 2010 NBA All-Star Weekend in Dallas, a pair of Mercury players will be making a very important impact that same weekend in Dallas off of the court.

Guards Temeka Johnson and Ketia Swanier will represent the 2009 World Champion Mercury on Friday, February 12th, at “All-Stars for Haiti” which will take place at the Dallas World Aquarium. The event, which will raise funds through a special Casino Night and Silent Auction, is open to the general public and will feature a number of special presentations and live performances. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Samuel Dalembert Foundation.

“On behalf of my foundation and the people of Haiti, we are truly thankful for having an event of this nature at one of the biggest global sporting events of the year,” said Dalembert. “I know firsthand the devastation that the earthquake left in my homeland of Haiti. We will need continuous support, and this event will go a long way in helping to rebuild my homeland.”

The backcourt mates won’t stop there during their efforts to give back to the community while in Dallas that weekend. The morning of Saturday, February 13th, Swanier will also be hosting a free basketball clinic for children at Fort Hood Kidz. The first event of its kind for Swanier, the guard plans to eventually bring several basketball clinics and programs to military installations across the globe for military children, as well as children all across the globe.

The event is part of Swanier’s “Ketia4Kidz Foundation” – a nonprofit organization created to provide tangible support to the children of deployed and severely injured active duty military service members of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Joining Swanier and her foundation at Abrams Field House at Fort Hood will be her teammate Temeka Johnson and Johnson’s HOPE Foundation, Chicago Sky’s Sylvia Fowles and Fuzion Athlete Management.