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CNN Saturday Morning News

WNBA Takes Part in White House Book Festival

Aired September 08, 2001 - 08:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Today in Washington, First Lady Laura Bush kicks off her major, one of her major initiatives since coming to the White House, a national book festival to raise money for libraries around the country.

Joining us now, Nikki McCray of the WNBA's Washington Mystics. She's been actively involved in the Boys and Girls Clubs during her playing career. Her favorite book, by the way, is the Bible. Good morning to you. Thanks very much for being with us early on a Saturday morning.

NIKKI MCCRAY, WASHINGTON MYSTICS: Good morning.

SAVIDGE: Well, let me ask you, how did all this begin? How did your involvement come about?

MCCRAY: Well, first of all, Mrs. Bush invited the WNBA and the NBA to come down to be a part of the first annual book festival and we're very, very excited to be here and I think one of the reasons why she invited us is because of our Read to Achieve program.

SAVIDGE: One of the things that could be brought up is people will look at sports and say well, what do you need to read for sports? You need athletic achievement. Let's put that to rest. What is so valid about reading and sports together?

MCCRAY: Well, I think reading by far is very, very fundamental and I think, you know, the kids really look up to us as athletes. You know, we're playing out there on the court but most of us have educations and I think that, you know, with us having a book in our hand and being able to go out and read to these kids, it just says a lot.

SAVIDGE: How important is reading to you in your life off the court?

MCCRAY: Oh, reading is very important. My mom instilled reading in me since I was 2 years old and that's something that I continue to do and continue to read to the kids here in Washington.

SAVIDGE: A lot of people for them, and for children, especially, it begins with a parent reading to them. What do you remember as far as when your mom would sit down and read? MCCRAY: I remember the bible stories. My mom was a Sunday school teacher and she would bring home the papers and read the bible stories to me when I was very, very little. So I remember those a lot.

SAVIDGE: Now, do you believe that, you know, with your role as an athlete you can really focus the attention on literacy and if you had a message and if you ran the whole show, how would you go about trying to get young people, and especially young children, into reading and getting them excited about it?

MCCRAY: Well, I think, you know, first of all, I think it's very important for us being in this position as athletes to continue to portray a positive message and actually here in Washington I have my own reading program. It's called The Pick Enroll Program, where I go out and I read to the D.C. area schools here throughout America and just really have a lot of fun with it. It's something that I'm very, very proud of and I'm just very, very glad to be a part of this book festival today.

SAVIDGE: Do you think there is more emphasis now on athletes, especially those in college and those that move on to the professional career that grades really matter? There was a time where I think a lot of people thought that as long as you were a good athlete, you would be pushed through the system. Has that changed?

MCCRAY: I definitely think it's changed and I look at the WNBA, you know, we can't come to the WNBA unless we have a degree and that's something that's very, very important to our league and, you know, education is top priority. So I just continue to encourage all those kids out there to continue to read and to continue to think about education.

SAVIDGE: You're a great basketball player but you obviously won't do that the rest of your life. How does reading and then moving on to the next career fit together?

MCCRAY: Well, I mean for me it's just continue to be a very, very positive role model for the kids and just to continue to stay very active in my community and to continue to be, you know, be on board the speaking role program and be a part of this Read To Achieve program.

SAVIDGE: When you're out there in the Boys Clubs and the Girls Clubs and talking to children, do they have an interest in reading or do you think it's really a stone wall you're up against?

MCCRAY: They do. When you're out there and you're reading the story to them, they're eager to learn. They're eager to listen. You know, a little bit of us have to do with it because we're the athletes. But they're really, really excited about the story, especially when you get a little bit animated with it.

SAVIDGE: Yes, my kids like that, too. I use different voices. They find that to be a different way of storytelling.

MCCRAY: Yes.

SAVIDGE: Nikki McCray, thank you very much for joining us this morning.

MCCRAY: Thank you.

SAVIDGE: Nikki McCray is from the WNBA. She's also a member of the team the Washington Mystics. Thanks again for being here.

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