KFDM COOP Posted July 10, 2007 Report Posted July 10, 2007 'Perk' shares experience at camp By Dave Rogers The Port Arthur News NEDERLAND -- While many of his Beaumont Ozen classmates are this summer picking up their college diplomas and starting to chase their first real world paychecks, Kendrick Perkins is getting ready for his fifth season in the NBA and getting used to a new four-year, $16-million contract. “I really don’t think about the past,†Perkins, the Boston Celtics’ 6-foot-10, 265-pound center, said Monday when asked if he ever considered the college days he passed on when he was a first-round draft pick out of high school. “This is my fifth year in the NBA. I’ve picked up a lot of experience.â€Perkins, a starter for the Celtics for much of the past two seasons, was at the Nederland Recreation Center as the star first-day attraction of the first Stephen Jackson Basketball Camp.It’s a weeklong undertaking sponsored jointly by the Stephen Jackson Academy, Adidas and the Golden State Warriors, the team Jackson led to a stunning first-round playoff upset of the Dallas Mavericks earlier this summer.The event is open to players aged 8 to 17 with the younger group (8-11 years of age) working from 9 a.m. to noon and the older players from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. under the instruction of a shifting roster of NBA players and others.Because of little advance notice of the camp, registration is being extended through today, beginning at 8 a.m. at the Nederland Rec Center, said Judyette Jackson, mother of the camp’s Port Arthur-born namesake.Marquis Daniels of the Indiana Pacers will be at the camp Tuesday, Judyette Jackson said. She added Stephen Jackson will be on hand the final three days after being detained by schedule conflicts.The arrival of other big-name NBA stars is anticipated, she said, but declined to name names. The NBA, Golden State and Adidas all contributed T-shirts, backpacks, school supplies and other giveaways for the campers.The camp is set up as a fundraiser for the Stephen Jackson Academy, a private school which opened last year with 15 youngsters in grades K-6. First-year classes were held at Port Arthur’s Mount Calvary Baptist Church, but construction is under way on a building housing classrooms and a gym in downtown Port Arthur, Judyette Jackson said.“I started kind of late with this,†she said of the camp, explaining there were scheduling difficulties, “but I want to make it an annual event.â€The camp is being held in Nederland because neither Port Arthur’s Parker Center nor the YMCA gym were available on short notice.“Our building was available,†said Tom Riley of the Nederland Parks Department “and I’m glad it was. “It’s not often we get a chance to host something like this in Nederland.“And besides, Perk is ours. He was born at Mid-Jeff Hospital. It says Nederland on his Wikipedia profile.â€His Wikipedia profile also shows the 22-year-old Perkins making his own way on perhaps the NBA’s most tradition-rich team, wearing the shamrocks in the paint where Dave Cowens and Robert Parish toiled before him.
SFA85 Posted July 10, 2007 Report Posted July 10, 2007 Another misguided, boneheaded decision by Jackson and Co. by holding the camp in Nederland. Excuses given were the Parker Center and the Y on 9th Ave. were not available. What about either gym @PAM? What about the old Beehive @PAM 9th Campus. One would think the 3rd most famous person from Port Arthur behind Joplin and Johnson(his idiotic words), would be better organized and would give back to the town he actually came from. Note to #3: follow the example of the Babineaux Brothers next time or better yet, let them give it in conjunction with their football camp and golf tournament.....
SFA85 Posted July 11, 2007 Report Posted July 11, 2007 There's a couple of lames on the FNE board who support #3's choice of holding it in Nederland.....
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