The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

SHORTLY after 9am, the point to prove is that they belong on the court with him.

Him, in this case, is the No.6 overall pick in the 2016 National Basketball Association Draft, Chavano Rainer ‘Buddy’ Hield.

Them are 20 of the Bahamas’ top high school basketball players.

Just months earlier, Buddy placed the Bahamas on his shoulders and took the country on a ride it will certainly never forget. On that journey there were stops at every single award that the standout two-guard could win during the NCAA season and post-season.

His senior season for the Oklahoma Sooners ended with the John R Wooden, Naismith and Oscar Robertson Player of the Year trophies. Buddy was also named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches first-team, a first-team All-American by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), Sports Illustrated and USA Today. His list of honours thus far on the year also includes the Sporting News Player of the Year, USBWA District VI Player of the Year, CBS Sports Player of the Year, Big 12 Player of the Year and the All-Big 12 first-team.

Buddy had become the living proof that the biggest hurdle to Bahamian youths pursuing athletic careers could be overcome. He made it from an obscure settlement known as Holmes Rock in Eight Mile Rock, Freeport, Grand Bahama.

I took time to to clarify his exact location as Holmes Rock because, in my opinion. that is the best way to describe his journey to basketball stardom. Buddy took one step at a time, from one level to the next, until he eventually made it here.

The ‘here’ would be the forefront of collective basketball minds.

Motioning at the three-point line last at the Kendal Isaacs Gym, Nasssau, last Saturday, moments before the start of his inaugural ‘Buddy Hield Invitational’, the recently signed New Orleans Pelicans guard suggested to the young players surrounding him “it’s that first step you have to get on, once you beat them with that first step you got them second guessing because they have no clue what you could do next”.

With a quick jab step, Buddy got to the free-throw line for an easy pull up. The youngster in front of him stood in amazement at how quickly Buddy was able to step to his right, stop on a dime and pull up for a now uncontested shot.

“That’s what I am saying. Once I got them on that first step they can’t stop me,” he shouted. “It doesn’t have anything to do with my speed or shot. I practice this move so long it has become a battle between me and myself; that’s all basketball is.”

It was almost as if Buddy was handing out the keys to success ... after giving it some thought, it was.

While the Bahamas has produced many influential and successful athletes in various disciplines, many youngsters believe that if you don’t move away at a young age to pursue your athletic dreams it is next to impossible to achieve them here.

Buddy’s first step came during the Darrell Sears Showcase some eight years ago, as a 12th grader for the Sir Jack Hayward Wildcats. We all know how that worked out. He got them on that first step and he was discovered.

Around 9.35am, now in the middle of what could only be described as a full-on coaching segment, Buddy said: “When I left here, it wasn’t my shot that had to change right away, my game wasn’t that bad. It was my mind.”

While I didn’t have a chance to speak directly to him about what exactly he meant by “it was my mind”, I could derive its meaning from his actions.

As a whistle blew to signal to the young guys that it was time to go and get ready for the day’s activities, Hield said: “You have to be dedicated to the work. You have to be ok with the blocks and understand the misses. But you can’t let that stop you from pushing through. You can’t let no one of that break you.”

As the court cleared, it was Buddy, the ball and the eastern rim ... he proceeded to take dozens of jumpers.

As those kids returned, now dressed and ready for the upcoming game, Buddy was still there - jab step, pump fake, pull up; jab step, pump fake, spin move, pull up.

The Bahamas didn’t make Buddy Hield great. The conditions he lived through weren’t made easier by the Bahamas as a country. Many of us didn’t know Buddy until ESPN introduced us to him.

While you accept that however, respect the fact that he is Bahamian and understand that his arrival on the world stage promotes the idea to your sons, brothers, nephews, cousins that they - too - can make it from their obscure community to the world stage.

• Ricardo Wells writes Fourth Quarter Press every Thursday. Comments to rwells@tribunemedia.net