By Tom Orsborn, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-01-22 11:21:37
马刺队前锋哈里森·巴恩斯（中）在1月19日星期一于霜岸中心（Frost Bank Center）举行的一场马刺比赛中，将他与妻子布列塔尼共同捐赠的5万美元支票交予马丁·路德·金委员会奖学金项目。该项目主席泰隆·达登（左四）表示，这笔捐款对项目的筹款工作“至关重要”。
盐湖城电——作为马丁·路德·金委员会奖学金项目的第一年主席，泰隆·达登 (Tyrone Darden) 当时还不确定从何处寻找资金，以实现该志愿者组织在2026年筹集10万美元的目标，从而与圣安东尼奥市政府提供的10万美元拨款相匹配。
“我当时一直在苦思冥想，我们该怎么实现这个目标，到底该怎么做，”达登说。“然后我接到了巴恩斯一家的电话，他们甚至在不了解我们目标的情况下，就帮助我们完成了一半。”
马刺队前锋哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes) 和他的妻子布列塔尼 (Brittany) 一直在寻找有意义的方式来回馈社会。在周一马丁·路德·金纪念日于霜岸中心（Frost Bank Center）战胜犹他爵士队的比赛中场休息时，他们向马丁·路德·金委员会的奖学金项目惊喜捐赠了5万美元。
这是该基金会有史以来收到的单笔最大金额的捐款，也是这对夫妇在巴恩斯14个NBA赛季中所居住过的城市里，一系列慈善捐赠中的最新一笔。
“自从我进入联盟以来，回馈我们所在的社区对我及我的家人而言一直非常重要，”现年33岁的巴恩斯在周一赛后说道。
“自从我来到圣安东尼奥，这里充满了爱，”巴恩斯说。“我们很轻松地就被这个社区所接纳。我们想找到一种方式来回馈它。我们想找到一种方式来支持那些正在做着善举的组织。我们希望为年轻人提供机会，让他们知道自己被关注着，让他们知道有人在为他们着想。”
在周四晚对阵犹他爵士队的比赛前，巴恩斯本赛季场均得到近11分，三分命中率为36.4%。他表示自己“完全不知道”这笔捐款超过了该项目以往收到的所有捐赠。
“我们捐款的目的并非如此，”他说。“这只是为了能帮上忙。希望这能很好地展示他们正在做的工作，也希望未来的球员们能继续支持类似的倡议。”
这次捐赠的近一年前，这对夫妇曾向 AlamoPROMISE 项目捐赠了25万美元，该项目旨在资助圣菲利普学院 (St. Philip’s College) 的学生。这所学院是位于东区的一所传统黑人大学，同时也为西班牙裔社区服务。那笔捐款被认为是自大卫·罗宾逊 (David Robinson) 和他的妻子瓦莱丽 (Valerie) 在21世纪初以900万美元创建乔治·W·卡弗学院 (George W. Carver Academy)（现为 IDEA 卡弗学院）以来，现役马刺球员在东区最大的一笔投资。
“在我看来，布列塔尼和哈里森是榜样，”达登说。“他们是人们在达到一定成就后应该成为的样子。”
达登指出，在刚刚过去的假日季，这对夫妇还在聚光灯之外做了一些慈善工作。
“我帮助他们确定了一些家庭，在节日期间为他们送去温暖，”达登说。“那是我第一次近距离了解他们在社区中的行事方式。他们为这些家庭提供食物，还请来了圣诞老人和圣诞奶奶与大家合影。他们问孩子们如果有三个愿望会是什么，然后他们就满足了这些孩子和家庭的所有要求。这非常暖心。”
马刺队教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 表示，巴恩斯的最新善举彰显了他的“内心境界与格局”。
“这证明了他和妻子的为人，也显然体现了他们所珍视的价值观，”约翰逊说。“对于我们队里的一些年轻人来说，这是一个很好的榜样，即当你在联盟中成长时，你的视野在某些方面会变得更开阔，而在另一些方面则可能变得更专注。能够与支持你的社区和城市建立联系并参与其中，是非常重要的。”
这已经不是达登或他所代表的组织第一次受益于马刺球员的慷慨之举了。
“我对‘HB’（巴恩斯的昵称）和布列塔尼为我们社区的年轻人带来希望的举动深受鼓舞，因为这让我想起了我的童年，”达登说道，他指的是罗宾逊在其名人堂生涯早期的一项著名善举。
受到纽约慈善家尤金·M·兰 (Eugene M. Lang) 及其“我有一个梦想”基金会的启发，罗宾逊在1991年向圣安东尼奥独立学区盖茨小学的90多名五年级学生承诺，为每一位能从高中毕业的学生提供2000美元的大学奖学金。七年后，“海军上将”将奖学金金额翻了两番，提高到8000美元。
作为土生土长的圣安东尼奥人，达登在东区长大，他就是当时那批学生中拿到高中毕业证的50名成员之一。在1998年从萨姆·休斯顿高中毕业，并于2001年从西南德克萨斯州立大学（现德克萨斯州立大学）获得刑事司法学士学位后，达登用罗宾逊的奖学金支付了部分学费，并最终在2003年获得了特殊教育硕士学位。
达登说，罗宾逊对他和盖茨小学的同学们所付出的善意并不仅限于金钱。
“从我五年级到大学，大卫·罗宾逊、他的父母、他的妻子，以及其他队友，像特里·卡明斯 (Terry Cummings)、‘小将军’埃弗里·约翰逊 (Avery Johnson)、肖恩·埃利奥特 (Sean Elliott)，这些人都陪伴在我们身边，”达登说。“我们开过泳池派对，他们带我们去打保龄球、打网球，还曾用飞机接我们去休斯敦看他们比赛。”
“对我来说，社区和马刺是一体的。大卫·罗宾逊和他的家人一直支持着我们。”
后来，达登成为圣安东尼奥独立学区的一名教师和教练，之后又与马刺传奇球星乔治·格文 (George Gervin) 和他的妹妹芭芭拉·格文-霍金斯 (Barbara Gervin-Hawkins) 一起，在乔治·格文青年中心和乔治·格文学院工作了16年。
“（巴恩斯一家的）所作所为对我意义重大，因为我曾全心全意地受益于罗宾逊家族的承诺，多年后作为一个成年人，又受益于格文家族的承诺，”达登说。“我亲身体会到，当那种级别的人物做出承诺时，其影响力有多么巨大，它能成为社区积极发展和提升整体士气的强大催化剂。”
San Antonio Spurs forward Harrison Barnes (40) signals to a teammate while warming up for the game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. Barnes and his wife, Brittany, have donated $300,000 in the past 11 months to boost education in San Antonio.
Spurs forward Harrison Barnes, left, and teammate Julian Champagnie chat as they wait to be subbed into the game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said Barnes’ charitable work in the community sets a great example for the team’s younger players.
San Antonio Spurs forward Harrison Barnes (40) tries to drive under New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) during the first half of an NBA game in San Antonio, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. The Spurs beat the Knicks 134-132.
San Antonio Spurs forward Harrison Barnes (40) makes a pass around Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) during the first quarter at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. The Spurs defeated the Thunder, 130-110.
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
点击查看原文：Spurs' Barnes, wife continue efforts to aid education in San Antonio
Spurs’ Barnes, wife continue efforts to aid education in San Antonio
Spurs forward Harrison Barnes (center) presents a $50,000 check from him and his wife, Brittany, to the MLK Commission’s scholarship program at a Spurs game on Monday, Jan. 19, at the Frost Bank Center. Program chair Tryone Darden (fourth from left) said the donation was “beyond important” to the program’s fundraising efforts.
SALT LAKE CITY — As first-year chair of the MLK Commission’s scholarship program, Tyrone Darden wasn’t sure where he would find funding to reach the volunteer organization’s goal of raising $100,000 in 2026 to match the $100,000 it receives from the City of San Antonio.
“I was just really brainstorming how do we get there, how do we get there, how do we get there,” Darden said. “And then I got the call from the Barnes family and, without even knowing our goal, they got us halfway there.”
Always looking for significant ways to give back, Spurs forward Harrison Barnes and his wife, Brittany, surprised the MLK Commission at halftime of Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day win over Utah at the Frost Bank Center with a $50,000 gift to the scholarship program.
It’s the single largest donation in the fund’s history and the latest in a long list of charitable gifts the couple has made to cities they’ve lived in during Barnes’ 14 NBA seasons.
“One thing that’s been important to my family and I since I’ve gotten to the league is giving back to the communities we’re in,” Barnes, 33, said after Monday’s game.
“Ever since I got to San Antonio, it’s been a lot of love," Barnes said. "It’s been very easy for us to be accepted by this community. We wanted to find a way to pour back into it. We wanted to find a way we could uplift organizations doing good work. We wanted to give opportunities to youth and let them know they are seen and let them know someone was thinking about them.”
Barnes, who entered Thursday night’s game against Utah averaging nearly 11 points and shooting 36.4% from 3-point range, said he “had no idea” the donation surpassed all previous gifts to the program.
“Our gift was not to do that,” he said. “It was just to help out. Hopefully, it’s great to showcase what they’re doing, and players in years to come can continue to support initiatives like that.”
The donation comes nearly one year after the couple gave $250,000 to the AlamoPROMISE program, which benefits students at St. Philip’s College, a Historically Black College and University on the East Side that also serves the Hispanic community. That donation was believed to be the biggest investment by a current Spurs player in the East Side since David Robinson and his wife, Valerie, founded George W. Carver Academy (now IDEA Carver Academy) with $9 million in the early 2000s.
“Brittany and Harrison, to me they’re the model,” Darden said. “They are what people should be once they get to a certain point.”
Darden pointed out the couple also did some charitable work away from the spotlight during the recently completed holiday season.
“I helped them identify some families to bless over the holidays,” Darden said. “That was my first upfront opportunity to see how they operate in the community. They fed the families. They had Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus there for pictures. And they asked the kids if they had three wishes what would that be, and then they blessed those kids and those families with whatever they asked for. It was very warming.”
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said Barnes’ latest philanthropic effort highlights where his “heart and head is at.”
“It’s a testament to him and his wife and obviously things they hold dearly," Johnson said. “And it’s a great example for some of our young guys just in terms of, as you grow in this league, your lens can get broader in some ways and then it probably narrows in others. Being able to have that connection and participation in the community and city that supports you is important."
This isn’t the first time Darden or an organization he represents has benefited from the largesse of a Spur.
“I am very encouraged by what ‘HB’ and Brittany are doing to bring hope to the youth of our community because it brings me back to my childhood,” Darden said, referring to a famous philanthropic act by Robinson early in his Hall of Fame career.
Inspired by New York philanthropist Eugene M. Lang and his “I Have A Dream” Foundation, Robinson made a pledge in 1991 to more than 90 fifth-graders at San Antonio Independent School District’s Gates Elementary School to award a $2,000 college scholarship to the students that graduated from high school. Seven years later, the Admiral quadrupled the scholarship to $8,000.
A native San Antonian raised on the East Side, Darden was one of the 50 members of that class to receive a high school diploma. After graduating from Sam Houston in 1998 and from Southwest Texas State (now Texas State) with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in 2001, Darden used Robinson’s scholarship to help pay for his tuition on his way to receiving a master’s degree in special education in 2003.
Darden said Robinson’s kindness to him and his Gates classmates wasn’t limited to money.
“From when I was in the fifth grade through college, David Robinson, his parents, his wife, and other teammates, Terry Cummings, the ‘Little General’ Avery Johnson, Sean Elliott, those guys were around,” Darden said. “We had pool parties. They took us bowling, they took us to play tennis, they used to fly us to the games in Houston to see them battle and play.
“To me, community and the Spurs are the same thing. David Robinson and his family were there for us.”
Darden went on to become a teacher and coach in SAISD before spending 16 years working with Spurs legend George Gervin and his sister, Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, at the George Gervin Youth Center and the George Gervin Academy.
“What (the Barnes family) did is big for me because I have benefited wholeheartedly from the commitment the Robinsons have made and the commitment years later as an adult the Gervins have made,” Darden said. “I have first-hand understanding that when people of that stature commit, how big that can be and what a catalyst that can be to the community in terms of positive growth and the overall morale of people seeing people doing great things.”
By Tom Orsborn, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News