NBA star Avery Bradley, one of the toughest two-way shooting guards in the league, is looking to channel his inner Bad Boy this season, bringing Detroit back to the its glory days following a trade from the Celtics to the Pistons.
But first he’s got to teach some Vancouver kids how to hoop like a pro.
Bradley will share the secrets of his success with North Shore basketball players at a camp running Aug. 14-16 at West Vancouver’s Collingwood School. The seven-year NBA veteran said he’ll be all over the court during the three-day academy.
“I want it to be a different experience for the players,” he told the North Shore News. “I’m there the whole camp. I’m spending time with the kids. I want it to be an experience so that on the last day they can feel like they can just walk up to me and say ‘Hey Avery!’ and ask me whatever they want to ask me.”
The Tacoma, Wash., native starred for the Boston Celtics last season, averaging 16.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game while also earning a reputation as an elite defender. He’ll take his talents to Detroit for this upcoming campaign following an off-season trade to the Pistons.
Bradley was a heart-and-soul member of the Celtics since arriving in Boston but wasn’t surprised to be traded following other moves the club made in recent months. Now that he’s with the Pistons he’s excited to expand his game even further while following in the footsteps of some of the founders of the hard-nosed Detroit basketball style.
“I think it’s cool, man,” he said of taking his tough approach to Detroit where players like Dennis Rodman, Joe Dumars and Ben Wallace brought that same intensity. “It is me. Most guys that play against me in the NBA, they say I have like a dog mentality. I think it has to do with my approach to the game. I don’t back down from nobody, I’m not scared of anybody, and I bring it. I bring it on both ends of the floor, every single game. I think that’s what makes people respect me and I think that’s how the Bad Boys were. Those guys, they didn’t care about ‘pretty’ basketball. They just brought their helmets and shovels every single day and went to work, got their job done. I respect that and I want to bring the same to Detroit basketball. I mean, not to sound cliché, but I feel like I can bring that bad, nasty basketball style of play back to the city, which would be good.”
Bradley said he’ll be looking to pass on his passion and skills to the players who come to his West Van camp.
“I feel like I’ve been blessed to be given this opportunity to be a professional athlete. I feel like it’s my duty to give back to the kids, give back to the community everything that I learned,” he said, adding that he spent a lot of time in Vancouver in his younger days, his family often making the drive up from Washington.
This week’s camp will focus on fun, said Bradley, but he added that the coaches are all intent on seeing real improvement in all of the players by the final day.
“We don’t want to just go out there and play games and have fun,” he said. “This is a skills academy – we’re not joking. We’re not here just to smile and have fun. We want to have fun, we want the kids to play free, but we want the kids to get better, man. We want to push those guys.”
The Avery Bradley Skills Academy, hosted in partnership with Gabe Gibbs of G2 Training, will run from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. daily Aug. 14-16 at Collingwood School. Players from Grade 1 to Grade 12 are welcome, with the camp fee set at $333 plus GST. Registration is still open. For more information visit g2athletics.com.
