NBA surprises West Charlotte High School athletes to kick-off All-Star weekend

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - If you can’t tell by the traffic in uptown, NBA-All Star weekend is finally here. Things kicked off at West Charlotte High School Thursday afternoon. Thanks to the NBA, both teams have brand new lockers, jerseys and WiFi capabilities inside the locker room to help them bring home more championships next season.

“It was crazy,” said Qyataisha Champy, a small forward for the lady Lions.

“I’m speechless. I’m in chills, I feel like I want to shout across the room,”said Reggie Mobley, the head coach for girls.

The new lockers come with name tags and they also have a flat screen T.V. to watch film. The NBA partnered with Kaiser Permanente to make this happen.

The brand new Nike uniforms were a hit with the team because if you look good, you play good.

“You play excellent,” said Coach Mobley.

Coach Mobley said he struggled to keep his lips locked about the surprise for about two weeks. He just wants to see his team dominate on the court and now they have a better chance to do so. They also have a new fridge to help them store their healthy snacks.

“They eat a lot of fast foods that aren’t good for you before the game, so they get the right nutrients in their body so they can perform at a high level.”

The Lions are also saying bye-bye to their old white board which used to be problematic for the team.

“It’s kind of hard because it gets stained easily and we used to lose the markers all the time,” Champy said.

They now have a state-of-the-art dry erase board which makes it easier for Mobley to go over the game plan.

This isn’t the last time we’ll see the NBA give back to our community, Friday is the All-Star Day of Service. Players will be helping out at a food bank and they’ll be building some homes – WBTV will be there to give you a behind the scenes look at that action too.

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