Steven Adams’ voice boomed across the gymnasium as he urged students to shuffle their feet faster through the agility ladders laying on the floor.
The typically laid back, jovial Adams was fully in character, playing the coach at the Thunder Fit Clinic, presented by Homeland, at Christ the King School in Oklahoma City on Tuesday. The 50 eighth graders got to take part in the clinic hosted by Adams and his fellow Thunder teammates Jeremy Lamb, Reggie Jackson and Grant Jerrett.
In addition, Thunder assistant coach Rex Kalamian was on hand to dole out some advice. Each member of the Thunder was manning a different station, with Adams at the agility and conditioning station. In between barking out orders he flashed his massive smile then paid compliments to the students at his station by bragging about them to his Thunder teammates.
“It was just mainly to encourage the kids with positive reinforcement,” Adams said. “I was just making sure they were doing their drills right. I was yelling at them to try to make them go faster, so that they could make a mistake. Mistakes are good because mistakes mean they’re getting out of their comfort zone and getting better.”
As could be expected, Jackson set up shop at the ball-handling station while Lamb made sure to take over the shooting drills. Jackson worked up a full-on sweat by showing the kids how to do crossover, behind-the-back and between-the-legs dribbles, all while at full speed.
Lamb started the kids with layup lines, then moved them further and further back to help them find their range. In between the shooting drills, there was a funny moment as one of the taller students decided he was going to try to dunk, but ended up just slamming the ball against the rim. Lamb said that in three years the student might be able to dunk, but for now, it was time to stick to the jump shot.
“They already have great form,” Lamb said. “It’s just confidence really. If they get a little nervous to shoot it, I just tell them to shoot the ball and have fun with it.”
As Kalamian roamed from station to station encouraging kids, Jerret was posted up at the nutrition station, where the kids were learning about what should go into their diets. He was pleasantly surprised to see how much knowledge many of them already had, so he tried to make the nutrition knowledge competitions a little bit more challenging.
“I was just trying to make sure they get every part of their food groups – veggies, grains, proteins and dairy,” Jerrett said.
The students clearly had a great time on Tuesday, and it was clear the Thunder players were making extra efforts to ensure that every kid both felt included and was also learning something. The most intriguing part of the afternoon, however, was watching the Thunder players interact with one another and with Kalamian. There was a true camaraderie in the air amongst the players, who after voluntary workouts at the practice facility, were able to bond in a different setting.
“Our whole team is a great group of guys and we always have fun together,” Lamb explained. “We crack little jokes and make it fun.”