On Thursday morning, 14-year old Titus Bowen was dribbling a basketball, bouncing around the court at Thunder Youth Basketball Camp. Just moments later, in walked Thunder forward Kyle Singler, and right then, the young Thunder fan was equal parts awestruck and ready for his moment.
“When I saw him, I knew I had to talk to him,” Bowen said, beaming.
Bowen and Singler chatted for quite a while before the camp officially started, discussing their basketball careers and goals and the fundamentals that are crucial to the game. This was one of Singler’s first appearances in the Oklahoma City community since being brought in at the trade deadline, and he immediately made an impact.
It wasn’t just with Bowen, but all over the four different basketball courts, Singler checked in with youngsters who were trying to hone their crafts and get better. Singler himself remembers a time when he went to basketball camps as a kid and appreciated the messages he received as a child from older players. As he went through dribbling, shooting and defensive drills in each of the different stations, Singler made sure to offer words of encouragement and bits of instruction.
“The fundamentals are big – learning how to dribble correctly, not to travel and shooting form,” Singler explained. “It’s a lot of basic stuff that basketball players use today, you’re learning at this age. They’re going to carry these skills on if they want to further their basketball careers. It’s important that they do camps like this.”
“It’s an amazing camp. I like it a lot,” Bowen said. “We’re learning a lot of ball handling skills and how to properly shoot a basketball. It’s the generics, but it’s the most important generics.”
This camp was a part of the Thunder’s Spring Break camps for local Oklahoma children and others who travel far and wide to take part in the Thunder’s Youth Basketball Camps, which are presented by Cox. Every week in the summer, the Thunder hosts similar camps with instruction from former high school and college players who teach the basics of the game. Be sure to check back here at thunder.nba.com later this month for the dates for this summer’s camps and information about how to sign up.
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After practice on Thursday afternoon, another Thunder player went out to make an impact for some local children. Although schools in Oklahoma City are on spring break, the Rolling Thunder Book Bus, presented by American Fidelity, managed to make its way downtown to reach children and to give them a free book.
At the Downtown YMCA, Thunder forward Mitch McGary raced through the rain and onto the Book Bus as children who were spending their days during spring break at the YMCA hopped onto the bus to pick out a new book. McGary handed out bracelets and bookmarks while helping each student find a book that interested them. One student said they didn’t enjoy going to school, but McGary responded to him with an important message.
“’I’m happy to have this opportunity to come spread some joy and give kids some free books,” McGary said. “It’s very important to learn. Nowadays people are going without having jobs. There are so many people living in poverty. It’s important to get an education and learn something. Maybe you’ll go to college and find something you want to do later in life. It’s important to learn how to read, get some knowledge and hopefully it will carry over.”
The bubbly McGary was a ham with some of the more outgoing children and was gentle and sensitive with some of the shyer students who weren’t sure what they wanted when they got onto the bus. For Michele Taylor, the Executive Director of the Downtown YMCA, McGary’s visit on the Book Bus was an amazing opportunity for the children to have an exciting experience to complement the programming that the YMCA promotes.
“It was wonderful having him out here. We were delighted,” Taylor said. “We are here for families and children and we expect for the children to feel wanted and loved whenever they come in and to be able to do different learning centers when they come for spring break or day camp. It’s a whirlwind of fun.”