Off the court, Sonics spread holiday cheer

Of all the days, Sunday would have been the one to shut out the rest of the world and veg out if you were a Sonics player.

The team has won just three of its past 10 games, and on Saturday, Seattle lost at Utah in the closing seconds.

Instead, Sonics players and coaches gathered, some with their wives, fiancées or girlfriends, to host a holiday dinner for 40 low-income families Sunday at Mount Zion Baptist Church in the Central District. Atlantic Street Center, a non-profit organization, benefited from the Sonics' donation, selecting from a pool of about 3,300 families.

Normally, such an event is a forced affair for professional athletes. They arrive in flashy cars, spend a few minutes signing autographs and take off.

Sunday was different.

Players like Danny Fortson, Nick Collison, Luke Ridnour, Desmond Farmer, Chris Wilcox and Mike Wilks contributed the $25,000 budget for a catered brunch and gifts for 200 people. Earl Watson spent $4,000 on $100 gift cards from Safeway, and Ray Allen, who is expecting his third child, bought enough diapers, formula and baby wipes to fill a back room at the church. Damien Wilkins, who also contributed, was the emcee.

With Vanessa Williams' holiday tunes providing a backdrop, everyone dined on ham and turkey with cornbread stuffing, collard greens, dirty rice, rolls and sweet potato pie prepared by Chef Amadeus. Talk around the white linen cloth tables adorned with poinsettias had little to do with basketball.

Najee Harris, 8, told Collison about his football career and recent good test scores, while Allen rotated to nearly every table, handing out shooting tips to Carlos Rhodes, 16, and his sister Tamika Parks, 15, who planned to practice when they returned home.

"I've never seen myself talking to a NBA player in person," said Rhodes, who is a member of the Chief Sealth High School boys team. "He's a nice guy."

Later, with some players still wearing their Kente cloth-printed Santa hats, wrapped gifts ranging from highchairs and microwave ovens to cozy sweaters and plush stuffed animals were handed out. And even though they were instructed not to, the kids leaped from their seats to get autographs.

Considering their backgrounds, it was a no-brainer for most of the players to financially back the function, although it was the first they had done of this magnitude together. Fortson remembered his church supporting his family as a youth, and Watson's mother worked extra jobs during the holiday season to buy gifts.

Many parents at the function said they would have done the same had the Sonics not stepped in.

"These families are not going to get to the games; they're a little apprehensive about Squatch," said Edith Elion, executive director of Atlantic Street Center, of some families trying to get their children to pose with the Sonics mascot. "This is new for the agency, and we've had to do different things because there has been a noticeable decrease in government funds since 2001. The priorities are totally not on human services. But we've actually grown, so this is needed and the families appreciate it so much."

After spending about three hours with the group, the team dispersed. The Sonics will practice today, with their next game Tuesday at home against Atlanta.

"This is welcomed for us, to get away from basketball a little bit," Collison said. "You kind of get in the rut of you're either around the team or you're at home resting. You kind of forget about the rest of the world. It's good to come out and meet a lot of very nice people and have some fun."

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com