Cory Wright

Brooklyn Nets

Jeremy Lin hasn’t forgotten where he came from or how to give back as a professional athlete.

On Wednesday, the Nets point guard made a $1M donation to Harvard University, sending a gift to benefit the school’s basketball program and support financial aid for students.
“It’s two things I care a lot about,” Lin said. “Part of it went to my coach and the program because of what they did for me and my career and the other part went to underprivileged children. Some of it will go specifically to kids who need financial aid because I was one of those kids.”

Half of Lin’s donation will go towards renovating Harvard’s basketball gym, while the other half will go towards the Harvard Financial Aid Initiative. Lin said he wants the money to help offset expensive secondary costs like textbooks and help cash-strapped students be able to enjoy some fun on the side without feeling the financial squeeze.

“There’s another fund that they have for kids who get there and get financial aid, but they don’t have money to buy textbooks or money to be able to live a normal life,” he said. “Like if they want to eat off campus. Dining halls when I was there closed at 7, 7:15, so like if you get hungry at night and want to get some food, they don’t have money to go do that. I didn’t buy textbooks – after my first semester – for the last three and a half years there. I know I want these kids to have that opportunity to go spend a little bit more money to do anything. Go to a football game, whatever it is.”

Lin spent four years at Harvard, averaging 12.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists and captaining the team in his senior year. According to the Harvard Gazette, Lin was the first player in Ivy League history to record 1,450 points (1,483), 450 rebounds (487), 400 assists (406), and 200 steals (225).

The 28-year-old spent his formative years at the Ivy League school and credited the institution for making him the man he is today.

“I owe them a lot for everything,” Lin said. “Four years of my life and they really helped me become more of a mature adult I guess, or whatever you want to call it, my enrichment as a person.”

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Lin Donates $1M to Harvard

Isaiah Whitehead dreamed his whole life of playing in the NBA. It was the motivation behind all the hours spent on the courts of Coney Island and the gyms of Abraham Lincoln High School and Seton Hall. Some people only get to dream about it, but not Whitehead, who made it a reality on Wednesday night with his NBA debut.

“It meant everything,” Whitehead said on Thursday at HSS Training Center. “That’s basically what you’ve dreamed of, growing up you want to make the NBA and play on an NBA floor. It was a great experience.”

Not only did Whitehead make his NBA debut, but he made an impact in his first game. He seemingly came into Wednesday’s game for play-out-the-string minutes with the Nets down 118-99, but instead became part of an 11-0 run, helping get Brooklyn as close as 120-117 with under a minute to play. He hasn’t taken his first shot yet, but played a key role defensively, tipping passes, hustling and dishing out an assist to Bojan Bogdanovic.

“Isaiah getting in there, getting four or five deflections, causing some chaos, that was good,” coach Kenny Atkinson said, adding that type of play will get the rookie noticed and earn him more playing time.

“I’m a big believer in that and that’s our message to them,” the coach said. “Even if you get two minutes, make an impression; and they made an impression on the coaching staff. That makes it easier for us in the next game or the next situation to say ‘Hey, throw Isaiah in there, throw Chris in there.’ So even though that’s a short stint that they had, I think it definitely leaves an impression.”

It also left an impression on Jeremy Lin, who told reporters he was inspired by Whitehead’s effort at the end of the game.

That praise bodes well for Whitehead as he hopes to make his home debut on Friday night. Whitehead made history on Wednesday becoming the first Brooklyn-born player to suit up for the Brooklyn Nets and he’ll have his family in the stands and the support of an entire borough behind him on Friday.

“I really don’t know what to expect, I expect there should be a good amount of people there for me, but I’m just looking forward it,” Whitehead said. “It’ll be big to see the fans out there and my friends and family in the crowd. Hopefully we win. That’s the major goal.”

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Isaiah Whitehead's NBA Debut

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Sean Kilpatrick is not one to hide his feelings, and with the start of the season just a month-and-a-half away, he’s ready to turn it up.

Kilpatrick took the long road to the NBA, so he appreciates every day and is enjoying the fruits of his labor both on and off the court, like getting his own shoe from And1 and being in NBA 2K17. None of this has changed Kilpatrick’s mindset or work ethic; he still works out like he’s trying to make the team and has been doing so all summer long.

On Wednesday, BrooklynNets.com caught up with Kilpatrick at HSS Training Center - where else would he be? - to talk about his new shoe, working with Jeremy Lin, NBA 2K17 and more.

BrooklynNets.com: So training camp is right around the corner (Sept. 26) and the season’s not far off. It’s getting real, how’s your summer been going?

Sean Kilpatrick: I was here all summer. I went to Vegas because we played in Vegas, but it’s been more about Brooklyn, getting better and making sure I’m forming some type of camaraderie with my teammates. That’s what was more important to me, having the guys around and just really getting a feel for their game a little bit more and within that span making sure I’m getting better as well. So that’s really the highlight of my summer. Next summer I’ll probably take a little vacation.

BrooklynNets.com: You’ve been getting work in with Jeremy Lin and giving each other shoutouts on Twitter. What’s it been like working with Lin?

Sean Kilpatrick: It’s amazing, man. Being able to have a guy like that with the teams he’s been with before and all the knowledge that he knows now and being able to text him every day and get some type of advice or pick his brain a little bit. I think that’s something that helps me and my game and him having the same type of confidence in me that I have in him I think that’s something that’s really helped me. It’s been great. He’s been a great role model when he came to this team and also a great vet with this team. Who knows where it will take off from there…

BrooklynNets.com: You’re in NBA 2K17, which has got to be pretty cool. What’s that mean to you to be in the game?

Sean Kilpatrick: It’s amazing man. It’s a game that I grew up basically playing and still play at the end of the day and play with myself now. That’s something that any player in this league, any regular kid would sit there and wish for.

BrooklynNets.com: And you've got a shoe that’s going to drop soon. Tell us about the kicks.

Sean Kilpatrick: It’s a shoe that And1 designed for me. They asked me if I wanted it to be a high-top or low-top and I’m a low-top guy. That was more of the look of what I wanted.

Being able to have my own shoe, I think that’s something that’s amazing because last year I wasn’t even thought of when it came to having my own shoe, you know what I mean. Now it’s more so a new look, it’s a new look for And1; now they have a different color wave, different material look on the shoe and now it looks like a Jordan 11 now, but it’s really an And1. Being able to wear my own sneaker is great.

BrooklynNets.com: You’re definitely out there a lot these days and pretty open about your life on social media. Some guys are a little more private, but why do you think you’re more comfortable with it?

Sean Kilpatrick: Your fans are the people that make you. If you can sit here and keep pleasing your fans or let them know what’s going on in your life, that’s something that really helps your fanbase and it keeps them in tune with what’s going on with you. With me having the type of relationship that I have with my fans on social networks because they don’t get to see me on a normal basis so now with me interacting with them on Facebook, or Instagram or Twitter, it feels like I was just with them.

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Real Talk: Sean Kilpatrick Talks Training, NBA2K & His New Shoe

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Randy Foye knows what his role is on the Brooklyn Nets.

Foye is a 10-year NBA vet, and on a team as young as the Nets, his expertise – along with his career 10.8 ppg and .369 3-point percentage – is invaluable.

“One of the things I’m looking to bring is leadership,” said Foye, who’s played for Minnesota, Washington, the Clippers, Utah, Denver and Oklahoma City. “Just try to grab guys after workouts and say, ‘hey let’s shoot some more,’ or do ball-handling drills, or play today. Or if we’re doing sprints or whatever we’re doing and we’re dead tired, let’s do one more or two more. More than anything, I’m trying to be a leader and lead by example.”

Foye has 683 games under his belt. That’s more than Anthony Bennett, Bojan Bogdanovic, Justin Hamilton, Joe Harris, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Sean Kilpatrick and Chris McCullough combined – with more than 200 games to spare.

“Randy is a proven veteran in this league,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said at the Nets’ introductory press conference in July. “Me and [general manager] Sean [Marks] were thrilled when we had the chance to get him. He can play both positions – the 2 and the 1 – great character fit, great system fit for our team.”

Foye’s been staying late in gyms his whole life, but said he got a crash course in leadership from former Net Kevin Garnett back when he was breaking into the league in Minnesota.

“When I first came into the league, Kevin Garnett was my vet,” Foye said. “He was on me, but everything he told me, he practiced what he preached. He got on the floor, dove on the floor and a lot of the things that he did he led by example. He’d say something to me about it and I’d do it 10 times faster or run 10 times harder because I saw him do it before me. That’s something that stuck with me since day one. That’s something I’m trying to pass on to these young guys here.”

So when Foye arrived at HSS Training Center a few weeks ago, you’d imagine it was a pleasant surprise to see so many of the Nets’ younger players already working hard in the gym.

“Usually in the summertime, it’s not mandatory, so a guy can make up any type of excuse and be like, ‘oh I have to go here, oh I have to go there’ [and not work],” Foye said. “But to see that many guys in for Monday-Friday, Monday-Saturday whatever it is, you know that they want to get better.”

Foye’s future was in his hands this summer. He was in talks with other teams during free agency, but chose to come to Brooklyn, with familiarity playing a big role.

“Brooklyn made the most sense,” Foye said. “I could have gone to other places, but talking to Sean and talking to Kenny and talking to Chris [Fleming] – who coached me – talking to Sebastien [Poirier], talking to all of these different people, it made sense. You go somewhere else, you don’t know anybody, but if you go here you know three or four people. It just made more sense.”

There’s familiarity with the surroundings as well. Foye’s a local guy, having grown up in Newark, NJ. He’s back in Jersey now, so he’s closer to friends, family and his foundation, which is dedicated to helping kids in Newark through school programs, clothing and food donations.

“It’s good for me to be closer to the kids, for the kids to be able to see me play,” Foye said. “Visiting schools in Newark and throughout the Tri-State Area doing things with my foundation. It’s extremely important when I’m back here during the season. During the season, it’s so long, I’m basically gone for 10 months, so for me to be around that’s huge.”

Foye knows how important having positive role models can be, especially given his own experiences, having lost both of his parents at a young age. He wants to be that role model for kids in Newark – part of the reason he started his foundation – and being closer to home makes that a lot easier.

“I came up in a tough neighborhood in Newark and I just wanted to give back,” Foye said. “I never saw an NBA person, or a football player or a baseball player come to a school that I grew up in so I said hey, let me do something special. That’s how everything started to evolve.”

Foye likes the Nets’ setup on and off the court. HSS Training Center and Barclays Center weren’t the definitive reasons he signed, but the amenities certainly left an impression. And for a guy who’s played for six other teams, he’s seen his fair share of setups.

“Once we came here, I was like, this place is unbelievable,” he said of the HSS Training Center.

He liked the setup of the locker room and training room and has been impressed by the attentiveness of the training staff – who have also drawn good reviews from Brook Lopez.

“When training staffs are successful, it’s when they are hands-on, on you every single day, that’s how you get the most out of a player,” he said. “You can’t be laid back and just let the player do whatever he wants, cause he doesn’t understand his body like the trainers do. These guys here are on you in a good way; ‘you gotta do this, you gotta foam roll, stretch, lift …’ and they are on you, they’re on you, they’re on you. They’re looking out for you.”

Then there’s the Sean-factor. Marks’ roots with the San Antonio Spurs seem to hold some cache with Foye.

“I already knew the coaches would be great just from the system, the Spurs system,” Foye said. “The work that you get in is quick, fast and everything is precise and done professionally.”

“We were talking and it was something that felt right so I jumped on board and I’m ready to try and help this team do something special.”

Cory Wright

Lin Donates $1M to Harvard

Isaiah Whitehead's NBA Debut

Real Talk: Sean Kilpatrick Talks Training, NBA2K & His New Shoe

Randy Foye Looks to Give Back