Luguentz “Lu” Dort stood at the top of the key cheering on members of the Millwood basketball team as they competed in a cut-throat one-on-one drill in the paint. At first, Dort’s advice was centered around good defense being an elite defender himself who spent the previous night guarding Orlando’s Evan Fournier and Terrance Ross. After a good block or a solid stop, Dort would yell out, “Good defense!” as the kids trotted back proudly to their spots in line.
However, when Dort began to see the same move over and over again, he leaned over and whispered an offensive countermove to the next player in line. When his turn came about, he used a quick jab step to the right and accelerated left. He got the edge on his defender and drew a foul bringing an emphatic round of applause from the Thunder’s rookie guard.
Dort and the members of the Varsity and Sub-Varsity basketball teams at Millwood Middle School participated in the Thunder Fit Clinic in partnership with Homeland. The clinic consisted of four stations, three of which taught basketball drills with the last one dedicated to teaching the importance of nutrition and taking care of your body. It was this station that Dort offered his recently learned knowledge on the importance of eating the right foods and taking care of his body.
“That’s really good at this young age to learn that so that when they get older, they’re going to know and it’ll be easier for them to do it,” said Dort.
After the stations were complete, the students had a chance to ask Dort any question they wanted. Initially the two-way guard fielded questions about where he went to high school and if he played video games, then he offered some timeless advice to the young student athletes who listened intently to the NBA player standing in front of them:
“Work hard every day and never give up. You never know where you’ll end up, it doesn’t matter where you start.”
In that afternoon, the Millwood Middle School Basketball teams gained more than just a couple of crafty moves to use in their next battle of one-on-one. They also walked away with the added knowledge of what it takes to truly be fit: practice, nutrition and a dash of good old fashioned hard work.
