Sports
Rising NBA star Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets headlined the inaugural Drive Basketball Jamal Murray NBA Players Camp Aug. 7 to 10 at the Richmond Olympic Oval.
Photo by Don Fennell
Murray displays Drive at hoops camp
Throughout the basketball universe, Jamal
Murray is seen as a rising star. His play, and stats, during his first two NBA
seasons certainly endorse that sentiment.
But his Twitter handle @BeMore27 further
speaks to why the future is so bright for the Denver Nuggets’ point/shooting
guard.
Despite his obvious athleticism and success,
the 21-year-old Canadian remains humble and focused on taking his game to even
greater heights. That can only be realized through hard work, which he
demonstrates on a continuous basis.
The headliner at the inaugural Drive
Basketball Jamal Murray NBA Players Camp, the Kitchener, Ont. native showed up
early for Thursday’s session at the Richmond Olympic Oval. The thoughtful
action is just one of many that impress Drive co-founder Chad Clifford and
fellow Drive architect Pasha Bains. Both Clifford and Bains are predicting
superstardom for Murray.
“I’ve always wanted to do this (hold a
basketball camp for kids) and overall it’s been a lot of fun,” says Murray. “There
are a lot of kids who love to play the game. It’s nice to see.”
A big fan of Toronto Raptors’ legend Vince
Carter growing up, basketball was always Murray’s go-to sport. He isn’t
surprised by the game’s surging popularity throughout the Canada.
“I don’t see how you wouldn’t like the game,”
he says, adding he’s hoping to return annually for the camp.
“The kids love it and I’d definitely like to
do it again.”
Murray wasn’t the only Canadian NBA player to
step up. Dillon Brooks, who enjoyed a standout rookie season with the Memphis
Grizzlies in 2017/18, was a special guest coach at the Aug. 7 to 10 camp.
Brooks, 22, is a small forward/shooting guard who starred at the University of
Oregon from 2014 to 2017.
The idea for a camp potentially featuring NBA
players dates back several years. Bains envisioned it when Drive Basketball
signed its first contract with the Richmond Olympic Oval six years ago.
“I took a look at all six courts and said
wouldn’t it be great if someday we could use all six at once?” he says. “It
finally came together.”
While confident the camp would be a success,
Bains admits the final number of participants surprised him.
“Basketball is super popular right now, so I
knew it would be big,” he says. “But I was a little surprised we had 200
campers.”
The youth participants ranged in age from six
to 17 and included both boys and girls. Players represented all ethnicities and
basketball abilities. Under the tutelage of Murray, Brooks and others, the
youngsters learned various fundamentals ranging from shooting to ball handing
to passing.
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