Chris Paul and teammates serve dinner at Mastro’s to raise money for charity

The Clippers may want to keep their day jobs.

Chris Paul and a group of his teammates served food and drinks at Mastro’s Steakhouse in Beverly Hills on Sunday evening as part of a charity event for the Chris Paul Family Foundation.

The players -- including Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, Paul Pierce and Wesley Johnson -- were taken into a private room by a Mastro’s sommelier before they were allowed to serve the guests, and were instructed on the proper way to pour wine.

The sommelier told them that when they approach a customer, they should talk about the Pinot Noir before pouring it, describing its fruity notes. During the pour, they were told to make eye contact with the customer, and make sure that the label on the wine bottle was showing at all times. They were then told to spin the bottle before raising it to avoid any spillage, and to take a cloth and dab the lip of the bottle to nab any stray drops.

The NBA players were then told to practice.

Johnson was the first guinea pig. Pierce volunteered to play the customer. When Pierce sat down, he said to Johnson, “Put the cloth on me.” Retorted Paul, who was watching his teammates with a smile, “Put the cloth on yourself.”

Johnson then poured Pierce a glass of wine. Drops flew everywhere during the pour and when he raised the bottle of wine, there was a semicircle of red around Pierce’s glass on the pristine white tablecloth.

Joked Pierce: “I can’t eat at this table!!”

The players roared with laughter.

The sommelier quickly intervened, telling Johnson that the balance in his wrist was off, and that he needed to adjust the placement of his palm on the bottle.

Jordan was then asked if he wanted to practice opening a bottle of wine. Jordan said he sometimes cuts his fingers when he does that. The Mastro’s employee nudged him to try. “No, I’m not scared,” Jordan said as he reached for the bottle. A second later he handed the bottle back to the Mastro’s employee: “You do it,” Jordan said, laughing.

Jordan then was tasked with pouring Griffin a glass of wine. Griffin decided to make things interesting, and violently shook the table with his knees as Jordan poured. The glass jumped and skidded. Not a drop was spilled.

Said Jordan: “I’m sweating under this coat.”

The players were then brought upstairs to the restaurant to serve the guests, each of whom paid $1,500 to attend the unique event, where they could be served a fine dinner by multimillionaire basketball stars. The dinner included salad, a choice of chicken, steak or salmon, and sides of lobster mashed potatoes, green beans, mushrooms and creamed corn. There was a choice of butter cake or chocolate cake for dessert.

Soul violinist Lee England Jr. filled the restaurant with music as the players flittered from table to table, interacting with all of the diners. Throughout the night, there was a raffle and the guests were able to bid on various prizes, including playing a game of H-O-R-S-E against Paul.

Short movies were shown on Paul’s four charitable organizations -- the Brotherhood Crusade (“dedicated to building and sustaining supportive services and programs that address health, education, social welfare as well as youth development issues”), Shoes That Fit (“committed to providing new shoes for children in need”), Vision to Learn (“provides children with free eye exams and free glasses”), and the SOS Children’s Village (“the world’s largest organization dedicated to orphaned and abandoned children based in South Africa”).

“It’s always great to have your teammates and different people come out for the cause,” Paul said Sunday. “We try to have as much fun as possible with it, but we also make sure that everyone understands that the real purpose of being here is giving back to the different groups.”

Paul said he was really inspired by his trip to South Africa over the summer to play in the first-ever NBA game on the African continent. During that trip, he saw single mothers caring for 10 children, and children who couldn’t afford shoes stepping on broken glass in the streets with their bare feet.

Paul said he was also inspired when he went and visited a school in a poor part of Los Angeles, and couldn’t believe that it didn’t even have Wi-Fi, while his son’s school had laptops available for the children.

“We feel like kids on the other side of town shouldn’t be at a disadvantage just because of where they grew up,” Paul said.

Twitter: @melissarohlin