The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

RETIRED NBA player Kenny Anderson is excited to be in Grand Bahama to share not only his talent but his life experiences with young people at a basketball camp/clinic set for this weekend on the island.

The first “Kenny Anderson Legends of Basketball Grand Bahama Summer Jam” runs from today until Sunday at the YMCA gymnasium.

Mr Anderson, who played for 14 years in the NBA, said he is the first player to hold a basketball clinic for youth from ages 11-19 in Grand Bahama.

While he is looking forward to helping improve their basketball skills, the former three-time All Star player who came from a tough New York neighbourhood, is equally excited to share his life story and lessons to inspire others to dream big.

Bahamian DeCarlo Deveaux, who also played basketball for a decade in the US and is a very close friend of Mr Anderson, helped organise the event.

“He is a friend and associate of mine, and basketball is a common factor and that helped to bring him here to… inspire our youth of Freeport, Grand Bahama,” Mr Deveaux said at a press conference at the Castaways Resort following Mr Anderson’s arrival on the island on Thursday.

Mr Anderson was drafted in 1991 in the NBA’s first draft, second pick overall by the New Jersey Nets. He also played with several other NBA teams, including the Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets, Portland Trailblazers, Indiana Pacers, Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers, Seattle Supersonics, and New Orleans Hornets. He also played one year in Europe.

Following his retirement in 2005, Mr Anderson felt the need to give back by sharing his talent by holding basketball clinics in the US and all over the world.

“It is easy for me to set up basketball clinics and teach basketball – crossovers, jump shots and layups – but one thing I got into is paying it forward with my life lessons and some of the experiences I had throughout the NBA and my life, and I want to spread that to the youth here in Freeport,” he said.

Mr Anderson said that when he was asked by Mr Deveaux to come to Grand Bahama and hold a clinic, he jumped at the opportunity.

“Being the first NBA player to do so, even though you have Rick Foxx who was in my draft year and he is from Nassau, and Mychal Thompson, they are from over here, and so I am shocked.”

Mr Anderson said life was not easy for him growing up New York: he lived in a bad neighbourhood, in a single-parent home, but he was able to get out through basketball.

“You ain’t going to save everybody, but you can give some of them hope…through education, basketball, football, soccer, whatever their heart’s desire. And that’s the main reason I am here, to pass on my basketball instruction and I would like to touch the kids and tell them some of my stories,” said the 44-year-old father of two.