Continuing Magic With Baron Davis and Paul Pierce’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Magic Night of Poker
Joyce Chow on the Red Carpet
NBA players and celebrities filled the red carpet for Bodog.com sponsored Baron Davis and Paul Pierce’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” A Magic Night of Poker, Players and Stars tonight at the Avalon and Spider Club in Hollywood.
Penny Marshal
Transformed into a Las Vegas-style casino with poker tables, celebrities, NBA players and VIPs competed in a Texas Hold’Em Poker Tournament with the Bodog girls surrounding. The Avalon had nightclub lighting with spotlights on the tournament tables. Missing was the pumped in oxygen, and the well-lit casino so you had no concept of time, perhaps because this did have an ending time, the stroke of midnight.
Magic Johnson
Earvin “Magic” Johnson has hosted the annual Celebrity All-Star Charity weekend for the past 20 years, now he felt it was time to pass the torch and that it was being placed in the hands of very good young men (Baron Davis and Paul Pierce).
Nicole Sullivan
Magic Johnson, always the gentleman with a smile to smile grin patiently took the time to speak with all the media, media by media. Everyone anxiously awaited the man of the weekend.
Donnie Wahlberg
When Magic was asked to compare the feeling of winning an NBA or MVP title to what he’s doing in the community, he would not trade. One is just for the moment while the other is for a lifetime.
Jeff Branson
When we covered National HIV Testing Day just a couple weeks ago, free tickets were being away for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream All-Star Basketball game, and I was able to give Shane Jenkins, the Vice President for his Magic Johnson Foundation, a hug to deliver to Magic Johnson on behalf of all those that wanted to thank him for all he’s done. Tonight, I was able to give him one personally. Now, he said, he didn’t need to wait for the delivery. No middleman involved. It’s no wonder why he has become a legend.
Nikki Deloach
Magic praised the young ladies that work on his behalf and thanked all of those that were making this weekend possible.
Magic Johnson
Paul Pierce, co-host and new torch bearer for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” shared his thoughts on filling in the shoes of shoes of Magic Johnson. “I feel a lot of pressure. Those are some big shoes to fill. Everybody understands what Magic did for the game of basketball, not only on the court but off the court. I’m trying to just follow in his footsteps . . . That’s all I can ask for, I’m just thankful for it.”
Oksana Baiul
Paul Johansson(“One Tree Hill”) noticed one of the reporters shaking and offered her his coat. He too felt he had some big shoes to follow, from his father. Treating people with respect and giving the jacket off his back literally, he is genuine.
Steven Jackson
Other red carpet celebs which came to participate in this charity event:
Baron Davis (Co-host of A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
Calvin Ayre (Bodog.com Founder)
Alimi Ballard (Numbers)
Chapter 4 (J Recording Artist)
David Banner (Universal Recording Artist)
Donnie Wahlberg
Jeff Branson (All my Children)
Kelly Hu
Lalaine (Lizzie McGuire)
Michele Merkin (Foody Call)
Mr. GLC
Oksana Baiul - Russian Olympic Gold Medalist, Figure Skating World Champion
Paul Johansson (One Tree Hill)
Penny Marshall
Run DMC
Sam Jones III w/Nadia (Glory Road, Smallville)
Shar Jackson
Skatelife TV
Steve Jackson
Tichina
Tyson Chandler (Chicago Bulls)
Usher Raymond
Victoria Pratt (Mutant X the tv series)
We all have big shoes to fill, no matter which walk of life we’re from.
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Chapter Four
A Midsummer Night’s Dream All-Star charity weekend will continue with A Midsummer Night's Glam Jam -- a night of music and fashion fusion at the House of Blues on Sunset, as well as, Game Day: celebrity and NBA-sanctioned All-Star basketball games downtown at the Staples Center. The weekend will close with the Champion Celebration Sunday night at a renowned LA hot spot.
The weekend is presented and hosted by L.A. Stars, www.lastar-mnd.com, a charitable event group composed of the Baron Davis Foundation and Paul Pierce's Truth Foundation.
Tickets are on sale to the public at all Ticketmaster locations, www.ticketmaster.com.
About Bodog.com, www.bodog.com
Bodog.com, located in San Jose, Costa Rica, is federally licensed by
the Costa Rican and UK governments. Bodog.com Founder and CEO Calvin Ayre, recognized as a pioneer of online gambling and a world authority on branding in the digital entertainment industry, was featured on the cover of Forbes magazine's recent best-selling "Billionaires" issue. In March 2006, Bodog.com was ranked #1 for most visited site in Hitwise's "Gambling Sports Betting" category. Bodog.com, valued at over US $1 billion and ranked in the Power 10 online companies by eGaming Review, processed $7 billion in wagers in 2005. Bodog Entertainment Group also includes a music label, Bodog Music, an online magazine, BodogNation, a television production unit and further properties coming soon. BODOG is a registered trademark of Bodog
Entertainment Group S.A.
About the Baron Davis Foundation, www.barondavis.com
The Baron Davis Foundation was established in November 2004 to maintain and/or aid educational, social and charitable activities serving the common welfare of youth. The Foundation's mission is to positively impact the quality of life for underprivileged and at-risk youth and their families in the Oakland/San Francisco Bay area, New Orleans and Los Angeles communities. Through the Baron Davis Foundation, Davis has held events and financially supported organizations including the Red Cross, the Lincoln Child Center, A Place Called Home and Grandparents as Second Parents.
About the Paul Pierce Truth Foundation, www.paulpierce.net
The Truth Fund was founded by the Celtic's Captain in May of 2002 as a vehicle for Paul to make an impact on the lives of disadvantaged youth in the Greater Boston area as well as in his hometown of Inglewood, CA. The mission is to provide educational and life-enriching opportunities for disadvantaged youth. Paul's vision of the Fund is to ensure that opportunities are available for young people to recognize their dreams through mentoring programs, technology and other needs as well as fostering stable and safe environments. One of his long-term goals is to build a mentoring center in Inglewood, CA, where area youth can find life-changing educational tools and guidance.
About the Magic Johnson Foundation, www.magicjohnsonfoundation.com
The Magic Johnson Foundation was established in 1991 as a single-disease organization that worked to raise funds for community-based organizations dealing with HIV/AIDS education and prevention programs. The Foundation has since responded to the growing need to address all aspects of our youth's lives by expanding its mission. This expanded mission emphasizes the Foundation's focus on supporting community-based organization and development programs that serve the health, educational and social needs of those residing in minority communities.
