Episode Details

Former NBA point guard C.J. Watson joins The Giving Game to talk about the Quiet Storm Foundation, the family-run nonprofit he co-founded in 2009 with his parents and brother to support underprivileged youth in his hometown of Las Vegas.

C.J. walks through the foundation's three core programs: a free summer basketball camp with a parent workshop component, a Black History essay contest each February that sends winning students and their families to Washington, D.C. for a Black History Museum tour and an HBCU tour (a tradition that used to mean flying kids to C.J.'s NBA road games instead), and a twice-monthly out-of-school program built around field trips and health and wellness activities. He shares the deeply personal reason the essay contest matters to him — his grandmother helped desegregate an all-white school in Nashville, and his father's family was threatened over it — and reflects candidly on what still needs to change in how society talks about race, the value of "having the tough conversations," and what allyship looks like in practice.

The conversation also covers C.J.'s path from a childhood in Las Vegas's inner city to a 10-year NBA career, his post-retirement pivot into being a children's book author (C.J.'s Big Dream, C.J.'s Big Project, C.J.'s Big Moment, and C.J. and His Magic Socks), and life as a father of three daughters, including his oldest, a Division I volleyball recruit at the University of Pittsburgh. He and Sophie wrap with a broader conversation about the state of youth sports — travel team costs, pay-to-play culture, and why the life lessons sports teach matter more than the scoreboard.

If C.J.'s story moved you, you can support the Quiet Storm Foundation using the link below.

• (01:46) What is the Quiet Storm Foundation, and how C.J.'s whole family got involved
• (03:13) Why empowering youth became C.J.'s mission
• (04:08) Growing up in the inner city of Las Vegas
• (05:04) Education first: how C.J.'s parents kept sports in perspective
• (05:50) From basketball to becoming a children's book author
• (07:13) The hardest part of transitioning out of a long pro career
• (08:22) The historical significance of Las Vegas's West Side
• (09:20) The story behind the Black History essay contest: C.J.'s grandmother and the fight to desegregate a Nashville school
• (12:06) What needs to change: allyship, tough conversations, and representation in sports
• (20:35) Fatherhood: raising three daughters and being a "strict dad"
• (21:31) His oldest daughter's path to a full volleyball scholarship at the University of Pittsburgh
• (23:50) What makes a good dad, in C.J.'s words
• (26:08) Learning things the hard way vs. having a strict upbringing
• (42:13) The state of youth sports: pay-to-play culture, private equity, and losing the fun
• (45:35) Why the life lessons sports teach matter more than the sport itself
• (47:44) Where to donate to the Quiet Storm Foundation
• (48:04) What C.J. wants his legacy to be, outside of basketball

👉 Website: quietstormfoundation.org 👉 Instagram: @QS_Foundation

One-time and recurring donations are accepted via credit card, Zelle, and Venmo, and all gifts are tax-deductible.