The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

FROM humble beginnings in Mangrove Cay, Andros, to the National Basketball Association’s Global Academy, Fredrick King is the next Bahamian big man that the international basketball world is marvelling about.

Rising out of the DW Davis basketball team, coached by Mark Hanna and the CI Gibson Rattlers, coached by Kevin ‘KJ’ Johnson, the 6-foot, 10-inch, 220-pound centre has already signed to play college basketball with the Louisville Cardinals for the 2022/23 season.

Home on the Christmas break from his past year experience in the NBA development programme in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, King said he’s looking forward to his future as the next player to take his talents to the NBA.

“It’s going great for me. I just have to keep working and being able to learn more,” said the 17-year-old King. “I feel very proud of myself. I think I’ve accomplished a lot coming from the Family Island.”

As the top international prospect in the programme, which features boys and girls from the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, Canada and South America, King said he was thrilled to be able to work under some great coaches and get viewed by so many scouts as he helped to carry the NBA Latin American team to an undefeated season so far.

The academy is a partnership between the NBA, CONADE (Mexico’s National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport) and the Mexican Basketball Federation (Asociacion Deportiva Mexicana de Baloncesto, A.C).

“At first it was hard because I wasn’t used to all that training and stuff,” King reflected. “After a while, I got used to it, using a lot of NBA equipment.”

On a daily basis during the camp, King would attend classes during the morning, lift weights before lunch and head to practice

in the afternoons when they were not playing in games.

“It was great playing against some great competition,” said King, who is averaging 23 points and 12 rebounds per game. “I got to see where I am, compared to the other players, so it was good.”

When he entered grade nine, King left Andros to enrol at DW Davis where he instantly became a success under coach Hanna as they won numerous titles with an undefeated season. He then went on to play for coach Johnson at CI Gibson where they eventually lost out to the Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins in the Government Secondary High School Sports Association.

But when the opportunity came knocking on the door to get into the NBA development camp, he jumped at it.

“All I could say was it was a blessing,” King said. “It was a hard time during COVID-19 and I didn’t know if I would get to play basketball and stuff. But I just ran with it.”

Looking back at his development to where he is today, King graciously thanked both coaches Hanna and Johnson for grooming him. He also expressed his gratitude to Bahamas Elite Sports Academy president Rodney Carey for facilitating his move to the NBA Academy through the insistence of his father, Carson Lundy, a former player with Tabernacle Baptist Academy, whom he developed his skills from.

It’s great,” said King in an interview from Andros. “I’m glad to be back with my family and friends.”

If there was anything he missed the most, he quipped: “My mom’s (Pamela Lundy) food.” His first meal was curry chicken and rice, but he’s eager to digest some “fried fish,” which he lists as his favourite dish.

When he leaves the Bahamas on January 8, King will return to Mexico to continue his studies. Then it’s off to Louisville in June to begin preparation for his division one collegiate experience, a programme he picked over offers from Creighton, Miami, Georgetown and Washington State, just to name a few. “When I was younger, I used to watch Louisville because of players like Terry,” King said. “I had a bond with the coaches when I visited the school and I liked the way they played as a team. That was why I chose them.”

Having already gotten his mandate from the Cardinals, coached by Chris Mack, King said he’s going to have to step up his game because he’s now “playing with the big boys” and he can’t be scared.”

And once he can develop his shooting and dribbling skills, he feels he will be able to fit right in.

“I just want to go there and work hard and continue my goal to play in the NBA,” said King, who hopes to study sports management as his major. At present, King said he’s in awe watching the NBA’s defending champions Milwaukee Bucks and their most valuable player Giannis Antetokounmpo, whom he has patterned his game after and whom he considers to be a “beast.”

King, in the meantime, is enjoying his experience in the NBA Academy.

The one in Mexico is just one of six around the world. There are two others in China and one each in New Delhi, India, Thies, Senegal and Canberra, Australia, which is the hub for the elite prospects.

Twenty-eight players from the NBA academies are currently playing Division I basketball and King is looking forward to joining the growing list with Louisville in August when the 2022/23 season is slated to get underway.