Asheville Altitude guard Jimmy King has been in big games before, from his Fab Five days in college, to his four years in the NBA as a player with the Toronto Raptors and Denver Nuggets. King has even appeared in national publications such as Sports Illustrated and G.Q. Magazine, but none of that mattered to a group of five and six year olds at the Hill Crest Head Start Program.

As part of the NBDL's Read to Achieve program, King read from the children's classic picture book, "Brown Bear" written by Bill Martin, Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle. King livened up the rhyming tale by adopting different voices for each of the animals encountered in the book. As the day ended for King at Hill Crest Head Start program, the children applauded his story-telling abilities, despite knowing the book from cover-to-cover.

The children at Hill Crest Head Start clearly enjoyed Jimmy King's reading of the Brown Bear storybook.

“I feel blessed that I have been able to accomplish the things that basketball has provided for me,” said King, the NBDL's High Flyer of the Month, presented by US Airways. “At the same time, however, I’m just an average person. I don’t think I’m different from anybody or set apart or special, but just another person in the crowd.”

“I like going out into the community to talk with younger kids, because they don’t care that I’ve been on television or met Michael Jordan, all they care about is the story.” For the young and very attentive group at the Hill Crest Head Start program, King was just a tall guy who told them a great story and that was fine with both the kids and King.

King, a native of Plano, Texas was a four-year starter at the University of Michigan, where he starred with current NBA stars Chris Webber (Sacramento Kings), Jalen Rose (Chicago Bulls) and Juwan Howard (Denver Nuggets). During the 1991-92 season, then Michigan coach Steve Fisher elected to start five freshmen that eventually went on to play in two Final Fours and set many athletic trends still mimicked today.

“The experiences that I had in college will always be special to me, but the new experiences that I have been exposed to this season in NBDL, both on the court and off, will last a lifetime,” King added. “I think it’s a good opportunity for us, especially as professional athletes, to give back to the communities that support us.”

Currently, King is averaging nine points and three rebounds on the season. Since being inserted into the Altitude starting line-up on January 23, King has scored in double-figures seven times, with his first double-double coming on February 9 versus the Fayetteville Patriots. In that game, King scored 24 points with 11 rebounds.

With the kind of start King has had in life and with the NBDL, it is clear that his story is far from over.