

Bradley Beal, John Wall, Garrett Temple and Rasual Butler deliver gifts in Northwest Washington. (NBAE/Ned Dishman)

“There go John Wall! Oh my Lord” someone shouted out, as a group of Wizards began carrying stacks of presents into an apartment in Southeast Washington Wednesday afternoon.

Otto Porter started hugging the people inside. So did Rasual Butler. Paul Pierce introduced his teammates to the crowd, then pointed to Coach Randy Wittman.

“This is Coach Wittman,” Pierce said. “This is the one that yells at us on the sidelines.”

“On behalf of the Wizards players, coaches, cheerleaders, we’ve got [G-]Wiz here, we want to kind of help your Christmas and New Year’s be a little bit special,” Wittman said to the packed apartment, amid whoops and celebration.

“I mean, it’s awesome,” Andrea Bennett said as the players filed out of her apartment. “My boys are growing up in this community, and for them to come here for my four babies? This is awesome.”

“Stop that crying, girl!” someone shouted to Bennett as she dabbed at her eyes.

This was the latest incarnation of former owner Abe Pollin’s Family-to-Family holiday program, which he created 18 years ago. The names and faces have changed, but each December, players and staff members pile into a tour bus and tour the city, dropping off mounds of gifts at several homes.

Every pro sports team does community service, of course, but there’s something different about the Party-Time Good-Cheer Presents-and-Elves D.C. Fun Bus, as I called it a few years ago. This isn’t a stuffy corporate event; it’s Paul Pierce riding a children’s bike up to a stoop, and kids posing for selfies with Wall, and Garrett Temple picking up babies. It’s living room embraces, and disbelief.

“Best time of my life,” said Tyrell Brooks at the day’s first stop.

“I’m so excited, I love the Washington Wizards, I’m so excited ” 23-year old Michael Conway said at a later stop. “I never really met anybody famous in my life before.”

“I’m so blessed, I’m so blessed, I’m so blessed,” Maria Beckham said still later. “Oh my God, we thank ya’ll so much for everything. We love y’all.”

“Mom, I’m on the news!” a girl shouted in the background.

The speech-giving was mostly handled by Pierce and Wittman, who had slightly different words but the same message: about holiday spirit and Christmas cheer. Pierce introduced himself at each stop — “I’m Paul Pierce, Washington Wizards,” he would say — and repeatedly told everyone in earshot that it’s better to give than receive.

“We’ve been blessed as athletes, as one of the three or four hundred guys to play in the NBA, make a lot of money and provide for our families,” Pierce said. “There’s a lot of people int his world that don’t live the lifestyle that we do. So being in this position, it’s always great to be able to give to others, to make them happy.”

Pierce also said he wished there weren’t so many cameras around, and indeed, the massive entourage — present company included — made earnest conversation tricky.

“Sorry to bust in here,” Wittman apologized at one particularly overwhelming stop.

That the Wizards are now a winning team also gave the event a different feel than in years past. Passersby shouted out the names of players. One man complimented Rasual Butler — Rasual Butler! — for his performance Tuesday night. Someone else praised Wittman’s coaching. Another man told Pierce he was hoping for a playoff berth.

“I didn’t come here just to make the playoffs,” Pierce responded. “Trust me.”

At the final stop, back in Northwest D.C., a kid sprinted out of a nearby apartment building to take a photo with Wall and Bradley Beal while his mother looked out the window and cheered.

Wall, though, said several times that the players were happier than the families.

“It’s a big honor to us,” the point guard said. “To give back to the community, to see a smile on their faces and see their families cry, that’s what it’s all for.”