Foreign Correspondent: Sept 21

On Foreign Correspondent this week sports reporter Paul Kennedy meets NBA star LeBron James giving back to his community in Ohio.

NBA superstar LeBron James is often called The Greatest of All Time. At 38 years of age, he holds the all-time NBA scoring record and an astonishing four championship titles with three different teams. Away from the basketball court he’s also making headlines. He’s put his name and his money behind an extraordinary social experiment in his hometown of Akron, Ohio.

It’s called “I Promise” and the aim is to turn around the lives of children living in poverty and social disadvantage. He knows how these children feel, that was his childhood, until basketball gave him a ticket out.

This week on Foreign Correspondent, the ABC’s senior sports reporter Paul Kennedy – a self-confessed basketball tragic – travels to America’s mid-west to meet the army of true believers who are working with LeBron to tackle some of America’s most intractable problems. In Akron Paul meets LeBron’s mum Gloria who tells him that her experience as a young single mother is the driving force behind many of the support programs. He also meets LeBron’s close friend Willie McGee, one of the original Fab Five basketball players, who says the ‘LeBron James effect’ is changing people’s lives. “It’s a beautiful thing” he tells Paul.

Observers say the entire nation is watching this social experiment in Akron. This story explores how LeBron’s team is bringing their plans to life, asks if it’s working and if there are lessons for us all.

8pm Thursday on ABC.