Golden State Warriors Broadcaster Kelenna Azubuike Launches Platform To Help Athletes Lift Families

“We just want to reach as many people as we can with the videos, and the message, and the website. But we do want to be able to go out and partner with athletes and have different events that just help families and help uplift people”. So says former Golden State Warrior player, and current broadcaster, Kelenna Azubuike. It’s his vision for a new non-profit organization he’s co-founded called The Athletes’ Corner, focused on faith and family. 

At the core of the Athletes’ Corner is their platform, which offers athletes such as former New York Knick Allan Houston, and NFL Hall-of-Famer Terrell Owens, a direct route to disseminate messages of hope, positivity and encouragement.

Launching at a time of coronavirus

It’s a timely venture with so many people around the world dealing with the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdowns imposed to tackle the spread of the virus, as Azubuike identifies. “Right now during this virus a lot of people are dealing with fear and worry and anxiety. I think it really helps people when athletes are able to… talk about how they’re dealing with it and what they’re doing during this time, and what’s keeping them sane…[and] what are some of the constructive, uplifting things that are keeping them having a positive attitude.”

By giving a window into how public figures are dealing with the crisis, there’s an element of leadership and connection through vulnerability. “I feel like this was a unique place to kind of start pumping out those videos” Azubuike says, “right now athletes are able to kind of share their perspective and people are kind of hearing it a little differently and maybe paying attention even more.”

Changing the conversation on social media

Even though it feels like it was made for the current crisis, the Athletes’ Corner has actually been several years in the making as co-founder Brennen Creer explained. “We’ve been working on the concept for a couple years, and we were working on developing enough relationships with multiple athletes across multiple sports so that this platform could succeed.”

Indeed, the goal of the Athletes’ Corner is bigger than tackling the immediate pandemic. They aim to use the reach of athletes to change what people consume on social media, as Azubuike explained. “We just felt like the world needs a platform that’s openly faith-based, that’s driven by athletes and focuses on…conversations of substance to help people, to help families, and help children understand what’s important because they look up to these athletes so much.”

Creer elaborates. “There was a lot of research that said that social media had been proven to increase depression and increase anxiety, and all of these negative things.” Understanding that the chances of getting people off social media are remote, Creer says their goal instead is to “create content that does the opposite, that uplifts people, encourages people, provides hope to people and strengthens people.”

The focus on family and faith by the Athletes’ Corner is an important part of their mission to change what people consume on social media as it allows them to find unifying themes that are all too rare in polarized times. “That is something that everyone has in common.” Creer says. “You’re either passionate about your faith, or you are passionate about your family, or you’re passionate about both of those.” 

The foundation behind athletes

That’s only one element of the platform Azubuike and Creer are creating with the Athletes’ Corner. Their big hope is that they can provide a coordinating and supportive role for the wealth of athlete foundations out there, amplifying athletes’ efforts to reach more people, making connections between like-minded organizations, and sharing skills and expertise to generate greater impact. 

Azubuike set out their ambitious goal. “The ultimate would be that when athletes think of the nonprofit foundation behind athletes, who they can work with, who they can rely on for support, they would think of us. It’s that kind of behind-the-scenes approach.”

So how will that work? “Each athlete either has their own nonprofit foundation, or they have one or two foundations that they really proactively support” Creer says. “Our goal is to go in with our resources financially from donors and to go in and add on to those foundations in any way that we can to strengthen families… and strengthen their foundations in the process”. 

Both co-founders pinpoint activities like matching donations, helping reach more people in communities, and potentially joint events. Azubuike stresses their role as a connector in particular between athletes who are each doing their own work in communities based on similar principles. “I just think it’s a unifying front where we can bring athletes together, help athletes understand they’re on the same team and continue the work, but make the work even better and more effective.”

The domino effect

For Creer, unlocking the power athletes already have is crucial. “Athletes are the ones who possess the greatest platform to reach and influence people,” he says. “If we want to instigate the most change in the world and change the most lives we have to start at the top of the food chain, and we have to start with those individuals, who happen to be athletes, that can with a single Instagram post reach 5 million people.”

So far, the Athletes’ Corner has brought together current and former players with 24 Pro Bowl and All-Star selections between them. And Azubuike has already seen a domino effect as more and more athletes get involved. “It’s a fraternity and once these guys see one of their own, or a few of their own, get behind something it has influence on the rest of the group that are like minded and have those same types of values, or put importance on their faith and their family and the people in their corner.”

The Athletes’ Corner certainly has some big goals, whether it’s changing the conversation on social media, or providing infrastructure behind athlete foundations. But with a former player-turned-broadcaster at the helm, the Athletes’ Corner is well set up to help athletes use their profile to be a positive force for good at a time when the world could certainly do with some healing.