Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007
Seattle Supersonics rookie and Suitland native Kevin Durant knows he would not have been the 2006-07 NCAA Player of the Year nor the second pick in June’s National Basketball Association Draft without a solid base.
A portion of what made Durant the person he is today came from his association with the Community Kinship Coalition, a nonprofit organization that aims to empower youth to be productive and successful leaders.
On Saturday, Durant returned some of the support he received from CKC by being the guest of honor at CKC’s 15th Annual Hoops For Peace Anti-Violence Youth Summit and 3-on-3 basketball tournament held at the Annapolis Boys and Girls Club.
Durant, Milwaukee Bucks guard Charlie Bell and Suitland High graduate Cliff Dixon were the featured guests at the event.
As soon as Durant arrived, he was swarmed by the youth participants. Durant said his association with CKC ‘‘is one of the best things I’ve ever been a part of.”
He continued, ‘‘I think it’s a great organization. They were there for me first when I played back in the day. Each year, the organization has gotten better and better and has grown. I think it will work wonders for the kids seeing us here considering we came from the same background they did.”
CKC provides family counseling, mentoring, tutoring, educational and vocational enhancement as well as entrepreneur training. CKC also holds parenting seminars, fund-raisers and youth summits.
CKC founder George Hodge explained certain nuances of the group’s objective.
‘‘We never push basketball or other sports on these kids,” Hodge said. ‘‘We stress the importance of continuing their development as a person and have them understand that there’s life after basketball. We try to nurture the kids from a lifelong skill standpoint.”
Durant was introduced to CKC as a pre-teen at the Seat Pleasant Community Center.
‘‘I’ve never been around Seat Pleasant Community Center but I wish I would have had something like this growing up,” Dixon said. ‘‘I’d like to see programs like that so that kids never have to come up without a good influence to help them.”
Seat Pleasant City Councilman Brian K. Shivers is also heavily involved in CKC and was the commissioner of the CKC 3 on 3 tournament. Shivers expressed his pride in Durant, Bell, Dixon as well as other volunteers such as Milwaukee Bucks guard Chris McCray, a native of Seat Pleasant and graduate of Fairmont Heights High School.
‘‘The impact of [Durant, Bell and Dixon] being here spreads beyond one day,” Shivers said. ‘‘They took the time out to give back and talk to the kids. They always call back to the program to check on how its going. All of them still reach out to the community.”
The event included the presentation of the Kevin Durant Student Athlete Award, which went to Laurel resident Brandon Williams, 15, who will be a junior at High Roads School in Capitol Heights. Williams said seeing Durant was an honor.
‘‘It feels good that he’s here and to know that he is from Suitland and that I went to Suitland High for a year,” Williams said.
‘‘I just want to see the kids bond together,” Durant said. ‘‘Hopefully they can learn, gain friendships and have fun.”
E-mail Terron Hampton at thampton@gazette.net.
