Marcus Smart and Denny Kellington are both Oklahoma State products, and they both spend part of their professional sports organizations in Boston. Although both of them moved to other cities of their respective professions, the two cowboys remained in touch at a Boston hospital.
But first, some backstory.
Smart was only 10 when his brother Todd Westbrook died at the end of his 18-year battle with leukemia.
So, in his life, Smart spent many days in the hospital waiting room with his family.
Those days provide the seeds that ultimately grow into the Youngamechanger Foundation, the Smart community outreach program.
The Foundation uses sports to connect with young people in the city. It enters its third year of basketball and mindfulness program for military families, which will be held this year for the U.S. Navy families in Pearl Harbor.
But it was the time spent sitting in the hospital that led to Smart’s idea of “SmartCart,” a large rolling metal cart designed to house a variety of gaming equipment. Smart donates shopping carts to the hospital, so children (both patients or their families) can help them occupy endless hours in the hospital.
“When you were kids, your attention span was already very short,” Smart told theukhohou ask.fm/. “To be able to cross the attention span of all your time spent in the hospital as a kid, like, what can you do?
"Then I'm that kid. I'm very active, very active. I love playing. So I'm sitting in the hospital all day, what's the point of doing? I think, I wish I had a game, I wish I had this, I wish I could do that."
Smart's NBA career has just ended his 11th season and this provides an opportunity to help.
Smart's Youngamechanger Foundation was about one year old when SmartCarts' idea hit him. Over the past four years, the foundation has donated more than 30 shopping carts to 18 hospitals.
When Smart sees another professional athlete doing charity in the hospital, he will start the wheels in the sports to organize a series of SmartCarts to donate to the hospital, which is a surprise to other athletes.
One of the athletes is Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who, along with donations from Bills fans, helped Patricia Allen’s Patricia Allen Patretric Recoverion Forg, named after his grandmother at Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo.
“I saw all the amazing work he did with these kids and families, and I immediately thought these shopping carts were perfect,” Smart said. “These kids and families were trapped in these hospitals for a long time, many of them unable to leave.
"They missed the human connection, their friends and the world. Josh and I, we represent things together."
This is where Kellington's name enters the conversation.
Kellington was hired as Vice President of Player Health and Performance for the Carolina Panthers in the winter, but he spent his first eight NFL seasons with the Bills. He became a well-known figure in January 2023 CPR and the use of defibrillators to save the life of Beers player Damar Hamlin.
He had another idea before Smart made donations to SmartCarts to head to Buffalo.
"It makes sense for us as a professional athlete to see what happened to Damar on the court and to see Danny automatically do his training and save his life. It's so inspiring," Smart said. “Time is not around you, you have to make a quick decision at that moment and Danny is able to do that.
“When I started to respect Josh’s thoughts, I found out that Denny was an alum at Oklahoma State, it was so natural to put his photos in the cart with Damar. It was the second part of the surprise.”
Including Kellington is the way Smart reminds everyone that they can play a role in helping the community.
“There are many types of heroes, including those who are in therapy,” Smart said. “We just want to show respect for helping people who make a difference. Whether you are an athlete or not, it doesn’t matter. If you’re doing something that makes a difference, we’ll do our best to help you.”
Earlier this year, the shopping cart arrived at Oishei Children's Hospital and was surprised by Allen, when Hamlin and Kellington also learned that their included in the cart.
“When I heard about the idea of a smart cart and what Marcus was doing, it made me very proud of him and his generosity,” Kellington said. “It is extraordinary to have an impact on the life of a child while recovering from a disease or illness. His smart cart is excellent in the hospital in Oishei.”
Scott Wright Coverage for Oklahoma track and field in Oklahoma. Does Scott have an idea for a story? He can contact swright@oklahoman.com Or on Twitter @ScottWrightOk. Support Scott's work through purchases and other Oklahoma journalists' work Today's Digital Subscription.