Why Raptors' Darko Rajakovic made $79,761 hospital donation at end of season

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Why Raptors' Darko Rajakovic made $79,761 hospital donation at end of season originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Darko Rajakovic and the Toronto Raptors' season ended on Sunday in a Game 7 first round loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

There's one bit of uplifting news to come out of that for Toronto and its head coach, though.

Rajakovic pledged to make donations to children's hospitals at the end of this season based on how many assists the Raptors racked up throughout the campaign.

The final tally was 2,417 assists for the Raptors.

At the rate of $33 per assist, that works out to $79,761.

Rajakovic planned to donate to SickKids Hospital in Toronto, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis and the University Children's Hospital in Belgrade -- according to journalist Vivek Jacob.

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It's not totally clear whether that donation amount was getting split up, or if each of the three hospitals would get that total.

Either way, it's a cool gesture and a way to tie what happens on the court into an impact away from the court.

Immanuel Quickley, Scottie Barnes and Jamal Shead all averaged more than five assists per game during the regular season, so they were the leaders of this cause with their passing.

A lot of professional sports teams determine certain donations by actions in games, and it's a cool thing to see, so hopefully this move by Rajakovic continues momentum for more coaches, players or teams to try things like this and make an impact on the communities around them.

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