The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

As NBA franchises enter training camp, players took the opportunity to reflect on their offseasons and project what’s next to come on the upcoming campaign.

Sacramento Kings guard Chavano “Buddy” Hield said that with three Bahamian born players now in the NBA, they serve a greater purpose as an inspiration.

“It’s really good knowing I came from The Bahamas and just being here in the NBA and seeing guys like Deandre Ayton coming up, Kai Jones who just got drafted by the Charlotte Hornets, it’s really inspirational.

“I look at it like a big brother role to them but it’s about motivating the other little kids to keep pushing because it’s hard,” Hield said at Kings media day. “Our job is to keep on inspiring the young kids back home so that they know they can play in the league, be like us, keep on helping people, and inspiring the youth.”

The sixth year veteran also weighed in on one of the most discussed talking points of media day, the NBAs new COVID-19 vaccination protocol.

League executives recently confirmed that unvaccinated players could lose substantial portions of their salaries. While vaccination is not required, they will be under more strict protocol and limited in their interactions with other players and support staff.

“I think every player should have the right to do what’s best for them and whatever they believe in, that’s their right. If you feel better being unvaccinated, then be unvaccinated but you should just go through the protocols the league set in place to keep playing. That’s an adjustment you have to make but you have to respect the players,” Hield said.

“It’s a lot of high level players that don’t really want to get vaccinated so the league has to respect that because when we sign these contracts and stuff it doesn’t say you have to be vaccinated to play basketball, so the league should respect those players but the players should follow the protocols to do that.”

For Suns centre Deandre Ayton, fatherhood and his time spent back home allowed him to decompress after a late playoff run that concluded in the NBA Finals.

“Going back home, it brought me some humility, brought me back down to earth. I mean, curfew was 9pm, so I had to be in bed early. So just going back home, I just really wanted to put my son in some ocean water and just say I did that,” Ayton said.

“I get a lot of help. It’s a whole village raising my child right now. I got people from my mom’s side, girlfriend’s side. Everybody’s in town, just having all hands on deck, helping me out. Helping us out.”

Hornets rookie Kai Jones said his intention is to establish himself as a player known for his effort above anything else.

“Once you have that reputation they know you are going to go hard, they are going to want to play with you and that’s good for chemistry,” Jones said.

“I’m growing everyday so I’m constantly talking to coach Borrego about what he wants me to do on the floor and just trying to be efficient. So the thing I’ve been focusing on is just doing the things that I do really well, efficiently, and taking care of the ball. So I’ll be the same player, same energy, just taking care of the ball and making better decisions and playing with motor.”

Just months into his NBA career, Jones is already looking forward to adding elements to his game.

“I’ve been working on touch shots a lot more, jump hooks and stuff. I never really used to work on that too much but like I said you can’t just dunk everything.

“I’m going to try to dunk everything, but I’ve been getting my reps in alot. I have to expand my game,” Jones said.

“It’s just about consistently doing my job the right way.

“To me that’s what’s expected to get on the floor and to play well when I get on the floor.”

Ayton and Hield will face each other four times as Pacific Division rivals in the Western Conference while Jones, playing out of the Eastern Conference, will square off against both Hield and Ayton twice over the course of the regular season.

The Suns will host the first of the four meetings against the Kings, October 27 at Footprint Center in Phoenix Arizona.

The Kings will host the second matchup, November 8, as the venue shifts to the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California.

Sacramento will also host game three on Sunday, March 20 and the Suns will host the final regular-season meeting between the teams on April 10.

Jones will have his first All-Bahamian matchup on November 5 when the Hornets travel to Sacramento to face the Kings at the Golden 1 Center.

The Hornets will then host the Kings at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, on December 10.

The Hornets will travel to face the Suns at the Footprint Center on December 19 and will host the Suns at the Spectrum Center on January 2.