The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

AS Bahamian basketball increases in global notoriety, Chavano “Buddy” Hield said he has high hopes for the country’s senior men’s national team programme to reach the pinnacle of the sport and achieve Olympic qualification.

Hield appeared on Yahoo Sports’ Posted Up Podcast with Chris Haynes and discussed the current window of opportunity the country has with elite talent at the pro and collegiate levels.

He noted NBA pros such as himself, Deandre Ayton, and Kai Jones set to join them in this month’s draft, can be the building blocks for a team to make a run at the Olympics.

“It started way back with guys like Mychal Thompson, Rick Fox, legends that paved the way. With our generation it started off with me then Deandre [Ayton] got drafted, now we have Kai Jones coming up, guys like Sammy Hunter at Ole Miss, guys are getting the opportunity they just have to put the work in. You have me, Deandre, Kai, Klay [Thompson] is half Bahamian, Eric Gordon is half Bahamian, so hopefully, one of these years - and I know Klay and Eric are locked into team USA - and I know Deandre has been busy, it’s been bad timing, but hopefully we can make a run at the Olympics one of these years,” Hield said, “Coming from The Bahamas that would be great for our country. The goal is always to win a gold medal, but just for our country to get to the Olympics would be a great accomplishment.”

Hield also recently expanded his Buddy Buckets Programme to the Bahamas aimed at giving players more opportunities for exposure and to advance their skillset on the AAU circuit.

“The programme is based on my story. I always had a dream to come from the Bahamas to America to play but as a kid I never had the funds to do it, I had to go on the corner and hustle, I had sponsor sheets and I was good at doing that, I made it work, but these kids now...it’s hard times in The Bahamas, some families don’t have jobs, I know what it’s like, especially seeing the level of income is not what it was. We had two hurricanes, natural disasters causing our people to be unemployed but I just want to give back to the kids anyway I can, helping them achieve their goals, keeping them out of the streets. Instead of being on the streets doing crazy stuff you can be in America playing basketball and trying to achieve your goal at the highest level.” Hield said, “You can be recruited and see where you are at basketball wise so when you get back home you know what you have to do to get to the level of the 16U and 17U in America. The American basketball skill level is so much higher than the Bahamian skill level, I had to catch up. There’s nothing wrong with working hard, but just seeing where they are at it’s a good evaluation for them. I have my camp back home and I tell guys every year, it’s only 60 people that get drafted, 60 people don’t play, you might even have a few undrafted guys, but they are all coming to take my spot, they’re all coming to take someone’s spot in the league. You have to be ready to go at it each and every year.”

According to its website, Team Buddy Buckets, is a Public Charity Non-Profit Foundation “organized for the purpose of investing in the dynamic leadership potential of student-athletes with intentional considerations for the disadvantaged and underserved. We TeamUp with Caring Influencers in our communities to serve and provide Leadership, Life Skills and Talent Development programs to educate, equip, and enhance student-athletes performance in the classrooms of education, on the court of competition, and in OUR respective communities.”

Hield said his desire to extend the programme to the Bahamas was to provide support to the underserved student athletes of this generation based on his own experiences growing up in Grand Bahama.

“There are a handful of players that had the talent but didn’t reach that potential. There were guys that were better than me but they didn’t have the proper guidance, the finances, the exposure, exposure is the big word. They didn’t have the exposure to get out there so people could see them. The only programmes that could get a hold of them were the junior colleges and the NAIAs. As a kid from the Bahamas you going to one of those schools that was a big deal, but they didn’t reach their highest potential,” Hield said, “So, the biggest thing I want to do for these kids is get them that exposure and show them where they can be at. That’s what I’m big on.”

As for his life in the NBA, the veteran Sacramento Kings guard continues to be the target of trade rumors with the most recent story published by several media outlets yesterday involving Hield and Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers as the principles in a proposed deal

With a renewed perspective, Hield said his offseason will be focused on personal growth and development rather than monitoring transactions.

“That’s not my job, I leave that job up to Vivek [Randive] and Monte [McNair], that’s why they hired those guys to do that, my job is to go out there and play basketball. Everyone’s job is to win a championship, we haven’t done that so everythings not been going smoothly. I see my name in trade rumors but I can’t control that, that’s where writers and everyone envision the best place. I’m just ready to go out into Sacramento every offseason and play and compete,” Hield said, “I can’t do anything about that, I just have to go out there and focus on how I can improve this summer and if I get traded, how can I improve the next team for that upcoming year. The last two years I was worried about that but now I’m just focused on how I can get better. Whether I’m in Sacramento or on a different team, I can be ready and help my team win basketball games.”

No stranger to NBA transactions, Hield was traded from the New Orleans Pelicans to the Kings, halfway through his rookie season.

“You see All-Stars get moved, you see guys with big contracts get moved, that’s the business of basketball, we can’t put our heads down, they pay us millions of dollars, that’s the business,” Hield said.

Hield and the Sacramento Kings’ disappointing end to the 2020-21 season included an extension of the NBA’s longest playoff drought and saw Hield finish just shy of a franchise record.

He ended the season with averages of 16.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. He ranked fourth in the league with 2433 minutes played.

Hield now has 1,065 threes during his tenure as a King, and will head into next season four shy of Peja Stojakovic’s franchise career record of 1,070. He set a new career high for made threes in a single season with 282.

In March, he also became the fastest player to make 1000 career made three-pointers in NBA history.

Hield set the mark in just 350 games to reach the milestone faster than Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors who held the previous record of 369 games. The top four also includes the Warriors’ Klay Thompson (372 games) and Damian Lillard of the Portland Trailblazers (385 games).

Hield’s early season struggles saw his streak of consecutive games with at least one made three pointer come to an end on February 5. At the time, it was the longest active streak in the NBA. In April, Hield also saw his consecutive game streak come to an end with 272 games played. He missed a game for the first time since November 20, 2017.

He finished the season 39.1 percent from three point range, his worst year since his rookie season where he also shot 39.1 percent. He took 10.2 attempts last season, the highest of his career.

The Kings finished the season 31-41, the franchise’s 15th consecutive season without a playoff berth tied an NBA record.