On Thursday, former NBA star Michael Jordan donated $7.2 million in order to build two Novant Health clinics in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, The Charlotte Observer reported.
"I can only give in gratitude for what I can never repay," Jordan said during a Thursday ceremonial ribbon cutting for the donation. He also got emotional during the cutting and said the project was an important one for providing proper healthcare for underserved communities.
Together, the two clinics will provide primary care, social work, behavioral, oral health, and physical therapy services and are anticipated to serve 35,0000 people over the next 5 years. One of the facilities, The Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Clinic on Freedom Drive, opened three weeks ago, and a second clinic is expected to be built on Charlotte's Statesville Avenue.
Jordan, who has an estimated net worth on $1.9 billion and is a majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets, has increasingly donated money and hosted philanthropic events in the city over the years.
Read more: Michael Jordan: How the first billionaire athlete makes and spends his $1.9 billion fortune
For 13 years, Jordan hosted a celebrity charity golf tournament in Charlotte, and in 1996, he opened the Jordan Institute for Families at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill's School of Social Work.
Jordan's latest healthcare-providing donation, however, is one of his single largest local donations to date. According to the former NBA star, the donation is his way of reciprocating the years of support and community the city offered him.
"It's not the financials but [it's] from the heart — a passion from what this city, this state has given back to me," Jordan said. "I can never repay what you have given to me. But this is a start."
