By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Before he takes off for the start of the National Basketball Association, Dallas Mavericks’ reserve centre/forward Kai Jones will conduct a two-day junior high school basketball camp and tournament this weekend at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

Over 40 players who would have registered online would go through a draft process tonight at 6pm to determine which teams they will participate for in a tournament that will begin on Saturday at 10am after they would have been served breakfast from 8am.

Jones, who is expected back for his second season with the Dallas Mavericks, said he’s looking forward to helping the young players, especially as they prepare for the start of the 2025/2026 high school season just as somebody did it for him at the Jeff Rodgers Summer Basketball Camp when he was growing up.

“We want to really showcase the young talent that we have in the country,” said Jones, who noted that somebody gave him an opportunity to be scouted and now he wants to give the opportunity to someone else.

“We will be exposing them to a high level of basketball and hopefully they can be seen by scouts and coaches online as the event will be live streamed. So this is a good opportunity for these players to come out and showcase their skills.”

During the camp, Jones will be working along with local coaches Mark Hanna, Kevin ‘KJ’ Johnson, Yves Pierre, Craig Smith Jr, Dominique Fernander and Shannon Williams as they share their expertise with the players from the age of 15-and-under.

Hanna, a long-time coach at the DW Davis Junior High Royals boys’ basketball team, said they are appreciative of the fact that they can work along with Jones in providing this opportunity for the young players to excel.

“He came up through the ranks right here in The Bahamas and made it to the NBA,” Hanna said. 

“But he’s demonstrated that he’s a very hard worker and that is what we want to instil in these players when they come out.”

Last season as he made his way back into the NBA with the Mavericks after he was released from his brief stint with the Los Angeles Clippers, Jones averaged 5.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game as he played a pivotal role in the absence of Anthony Davis, once he was traded in a swap with Luka Doncic with the Los Angeles Lakers.

The 24-year-old 6-foot, 11-inch men’s national team basketball player was drafted as the 119th pick overall in the first round of the 2021 draft by the Charlotte Hornets out of the University of Texas at Austin.

He is a former long jumper, who left The Bahamas at the age of 11. 

But at the age of 15 because of his growth, he decided to venture into basketball. 

He was recruited to participate in the Basketball Without Borders Americas camp held by the NBA in Nassau in 2017.

He then enrolled in Orlando Christian Prep in Orlando, Florida, as a high school senior. 

Then in the summer of 2018, he attended the NBA Global Camp in Treviso, Italy, before he played a postgraduate season at Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.

All before he made the commitment to play for Texas.