On Friday, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck eastern Turkey.
It was a costly one, as the death toll has reached 35 so far.
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Cedi Osman had the quake and its victims on his mind, as he and teammate Larry Nance Jr. decided to each donate $10,000 to the relief efforts.
Osman also raised additional money from several Turkish athletes via social media.
Due to his efforts to help, Osman was given some thanks from a very important man in Turkey, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
“Osman, whose game-night sneakers are red and white to match the Turkish flag, told cleveland.com he even heard from the Turkish Prime Minister,” Fedor wrote.
“’Famous people in Turkey, like soccer players especially, they responded back right away in a good way,’ Osman said. ‘It’s just beautiful, it’s just great that we are going to be able to help them.’”
Although Osman is originally from the Republic of Macedonia, his father is ethnically Turkish, which has made Osman eligible to play for the Turkish national basketball team.
Osman originally decided to donate $100 for every 3-pointer made during the Cavs’ Saturday game against the Chicago Bulls. But Nance convinced Osman to up that figure to $200, and Nance also promised to match every dollar Osman donated.
Unfortunately for the Cavs, they lost to the Bulls, 118-106. It was Cleveland’s eighth loss in a row and its 13th in its last 15 games.
