NBA legends visited students at Crespo Elementary Thursday to stress the importance of financial literacy and education.

Former Houston Rockets stars Clyde Drexler, who is a Sterling HS alum, and Elvin Hayes, along with former players John Lucas, Felipe Lopez and T.J. Ford, visited classes and talked to students about working hard on their studies and staying in school.

“Without an education, you don’t have a future,” said Lucas, who also coached three NBA teams.

BBVA Compass employees gave fourth- and fifth-graders an overview of a web-based financial literacy program, EverFi, which will help students develop good financial habits at an early age.

“We feel by teaching children basic principles about financial education, we’re able to make them into more productive adults over time,” said Karen Dixon of BBVA Compass.

[photoshelter-gallery g_id=’G0000mtVvIwe.wRY’ g_name=’20140227-NBACares’ width=’600′ f_fullscreen=’t’ bgtrans=’t’ pho_credit=’iptc’ twoup=’f’ f_bbar=’t’ f_bbarbig=’f’ fsvis=’f’ f_show_caption=’t’ crop=’f’ f_enable_embed_btn=’t’ f_htmllinks=’t’ f_l=’t’ f_send_to_friend_btn=’f’ f_show_slidenum=’t’ f_topbar=’f’ f_show_watermark=’t’ img_title=’casc’ linkdest=’c’ trans=’xfade’ target=’_self’ tbs=’5000′ f_link=’t’ f_smooth=’f’ f_mtrx=’t’ f_ap=’t’ f_up=’f’ height=’400′ btype=’old’ bcolor=’#CCCCCC’ ]