Family of Aloha II: Lebron James Kings Academy Basketball Camp

Joshua had the opportunity to attend the Lebron James King's Academy Basketball camp on the UC San Diego Campus on July 24-28th. The camp was from 9am to 9pm (sometimes later). Some people told us that it wouldn't be worth it and some questioned sending our child to a "celebrity camp" for various reasons.

My expectation of the camp was that Lebron would be there. There were no promises made other than that. No promises of other NBA players. Just that Lebron would be there. But what did that mean? We had heard in his past camps, he was there every day. But would that be the case? From a parent standpoint, all I wanted was for him to be there so Joshua could see him up close and personal. Fom a coach’s stand point, I just wanted them to be organized and have basketballs there.

Note: Joshua is Lebron's #1 fan - so to see his "idol" is like a dream come true. And isn't that why we parents are here? To help them realize their dreams?

To see the wonder on their faces when seeing their idol up close - PRICELESS!!!

The "King"

First day was registration - And Lebron was there to welcome everyone. Points earned for showing up the first day.

Mo Williams (Lebron’s teammate on the Cavs) was there too.

Anyhow, as a coach - I wasn't expecting much in terms of learning new skills, but I figured in a span of about 5 hours of basketball (time taken out for lunch, dinners and breaks), they'd go through some drills. But, for me - Joshua was not there to learn a new skill. If he picked something up along the way, then that'd be wonderful.

They had a huge staff of coaches - so that made me feel good. Each team consisted of a coach and about 10 players. Good Ratio. Coaches were mostly former coaches and current and former college players. Joshua’s coach played in both JR College and College. Didn’t catch where – but that really doesn’t matter, does it?

King's Academy Coaches.

They started the day off with warm-ups and ball handling drills. Throughout the day they played 5-on-5, 3-on-3 and 1-on-1 games along with having free throw and hotspots contests. And I know there was defense drills mixed in there. They also got coaching on some team offense (ball side screens, and rolling to the basket) and team defense (help side). But a large part of the time was playing the 5-on-5, 3-on-3 and 1-on-1 games.

Good or bad? For Joshua, this turned out to be good. Now, I could take the negative route and think "well, we paid this much money for him to learn, not play games...", but here's what I saw.

I saw Joshua have to...one more time...HAVE TO...learn how to play with players he just met, players from different backgrounds. Players from different cities...East Coast in the house! He had to learn what to do to earn their respect. Joshua is not a ball hog, and he's a team player first. So, when a few players on his team weren't passing him the ball, it bothered him. But after a short talk – he knew what he had to do.

He got more aggressive on defense, he fought for more rebounds than I ever have seen him fight for – and he’s not blessed with height. But the fact is he got more aggressive, and now understood what he was capable of doing. And, as a result – he made more things happen for his team, he scored some baskets, and the other players on his team began to realize his value and by the last day of camp, Joshua had the ball in his hands more. And to me as a coach, that was worth the price of admission.

Back to Lebron…he was there EVERYDAY. Didn’t necessarily interact with ALL of the kids, but when you have kids spread out at four different spots on campus, it’s tough to be in all of those places at once. On the very first day of camp, Lebron was passing through and watching Joshua's group do some drills. After Joshua completed his drills, Lebron James walked up to him and rubbed Joshua's head! That was one of the highlights of the day for Joshua. I mean, he didn't rub any other kid's heads! Lebron played in a scrimmage every night, (except one) and the kids all got to sit on the floor courtside to get a great view of the action. Mo Williams played in two of the scrimmages.

The camp was organized for the most part. The camp organizers had huge help from the UCSD athletic department – so there wasn’t a whole lot of chaos…which is VERY POSSIBLE with 600+ kids and their parents under one roof.

On the last day, the kids got to have one item autographed by Lebron, and the autograph was authenticated by Upper Deck. Joshua chose to have an Official NBA ball signed (an early bday present from Grandma and Bumps). He was able to hand it to Lebron for signing, so another close encounter.

Authentic Autograph!!
Also on the last day, individual and team camp awards were given. If I had to guess, there were maybe a total of 100 plaques given out. This was to a pool of 600+ kids. Joshua was chosen by the coaches to receive the “Most Improved” award for his age group, which consisted of around 100 kids. There was only one of these awards given per age group, so we are very proud of him! But the important part was Lebron presented the plaque – so a hand shake from “The King” himself was a great way to cap off the day!!

Each camper was given a King’s Academy T-Shirt, a team photo with Lebron, all the Vitamin Water and SMART Water they could drink at the camp, as well as a personal evaluation from their coach and the one autographed item.

Of course Academy Gear was sold, and Joshua HAD TO have one of everything!

Overall, it was absolutely worth it. Not only did Joshua get to play the sport he loves, be with a few of his friends and meet his idol…but we, as a family, were able to enjoy a week at a beautiful resort (Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines), no cooking or cleaning, and even got to enjoy Sea World and Legoland with the boys! On the last day of camp, Joshua and his friends were already talking about coming back next year! It was definitely a great experience and a fun trip! A special thank you to Grandma and Bumpa for pitching in to send Joshua to this awesome camp!!

Here's Joshua receiving his Most Improved award!! We are especially proud of Joshua because he was chosen from about 100 players in his age group to receive this award...presented by "The King"!!