WNBA star donates half of her salary to charity

Plenty of athletes make donations to charity every year, but how many would be willing to donate half their annual salary? Better yet, how many would be willing to donate half of their salary if that meant their take-home pay would only be $50,000? It seems likely that you wouldn't end up with many takers. Which is why what New York Liberty center Tina Charles is doing is all the more remarkable. Charles is making that donation to a charity she started after losing her aunt to multiple organ failure, and it's the second time she's made the sacrifice, according to the Associated Press.

The foundation, Hopey's Heart, provides health education, CPR training and lifesaving AEDs in schools, communities and recreational centers. It doesn't just honor Charles' aunt, but also Wes Leonard, a high school basketball player in Michigan who died in 2011 of sudden cardiac arrest after hitting the game-winning shot for his team.

The money will go toward automatic external defibrillators, as it has in the past, this time going to Europe to make sure each team in the women's Euroleague has one. It adds to the 142 she's already been able to buy for the charity in the past, a more than noble sacrifice for a more than worthy cause.

After the Golden State Warriors won the NBA Finals last night in Cleveland, it overshadowed every other moment from earlier in the night, but there was one moment we just had to bring up one more time. The rendition of the national anthem sang by Marlana VanHoose, a blind teen with cerebral palsy, absolutely brought the house down, and for good reason. It blew us (and Twitter) away, and is worth at least one more listen.

All eyes will be on golf's biggest stars at this weekend's U.S. Open, but one guy everyone should pay attention to is 15-year-old Cole Hammer, who has a big swing and a great nickname. Hammer, who qualified by shooting 64-68 in sectional qualifying in Dallas, was a hit at his Tuesday press conference, saying that his friends call him "Hammer Time." We hope he, and the nickname, do well this weekend and stick around for many more to come.