The No. 2 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft spent some time this past weekend in his hometown Fresno, California to host a two-day basketball camp at Clovis North High School.
Deemed “JG4 Basketball Camp,” the program run by 19-year old Jalen Green was an opportunity to give back to a community he once grew up in.
“It means a lot to come out here and give back to the community,” Green said.
The event, backed by Adidas, was open to players from Kindergarten to Grade 8. Hundreds of campers attended and learned some basketball skills, while also getting the opportunity to ask the NBA player about life and basketball. In the end, they were also given apparel which included an Adidas backpack to take home with them.
“The JG4 Camp was a success. I appreciate everyone who came through to my first camp.” said the thankful Rocket’s guard.
“I know there’s a lot of basketball fans in Fresno, I know they look up to me, so it just feels good to come back and give back,” Green added.
Just two years prior, Jalen had been representing the city of Fresno while playing for San Joaquin Memorial High School. In three years, before wrapping up his high school career with Prolific Prep, the 6-foot-6 combo guard became the program’s all-time leading scorer with 2,288 points. In his Junior campaign, he averaged 30.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. He helped lead San Joaquin to the 2018 and 2019 Division II Central Section CIF Championships.
Alongside the prolific athlete, Jalen was joined by Josh Christopher, another first-round draft pick by the Houston Rockets. With a couple of weeks before the NBA season opener, Christopher decided to spend some time in the offseason with Green to hang out with the kids and sign autographs.
“Growing up I lived in a small desert in Lancaster, almost just like this [Fresno],” Christopher explained.
“I’m one of these kids too, just a little bit older,” he said laughing. “We’re relatable, we’re human, and we were just one of them a couple of years ago, it’s just all love.”
Both Green and Christopher will be looking to sprout under a young Houston Rockets team. Led by Rocket’s veteran John Wall, the team will be working on developing their young guns in the 2021-22 NBA season. If things pan out the way the Rocket’s hope they will, the franchise will be sitting in a solid position in the coming seasons.
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