Members of the Brooklyn Nets organization distributed basketballs to local youths in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Nets Hype team and Guard Caris LeVert attended one of the 25 stops the team would make in hoping to spread the love for the game of basketball.
The event took place at Edmonds Playground in Fort Greene. It kicked off a series of stops throughout the borough where the team is going to give out over 2,000 basketballs to kids.
Each attendee was given a basketball then was given the opportunity to participate in drills. LeVert joined the kids in the drills, he said he was excited for the opportunity to help give back to a community that has helped him out.
“It’s meant a lot, when I was a rookie, they kind of adopted me as their own. I’m definitely trying to make up for that,” LeVert said.
He said they didn’t have many events like this in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, and that being able to give back on such a large scale was an experience he was looking forward to.
On the basketball side of things, LeVert was excited to get back into the swing of things for the new season.
After returning from the Las Vegas Summer League as one of the most experienced players on the roster, LeVert has shifted his focus to getting ready for training camp.
Although he lost a mentor in former teammate Jeremy Lin, LeVert is excited about the roster the team has assembled for the upcoming season.
“I think the core of guys is kind of the same, we’re still a young core,” he said, “We added some great pieces, Sean [Marks] and Kenny [Atkinson] have done a great job at doing that. I think that going into the end of summer and into training camp we’ve got a nice core of guys,” he said.
LeVert missed 11 games last season due to injury, including five missed games for a concussion. He said his primary goal for the upcoming season is to stay on the court, and when he is playing, to continue making strides in his game.
“Staying healthy and maximizing my potential, I’m not worried about anyone but myself,” LeVert said.
LeVert hasn’t set a goal for specific numbers he’d like to put up next season, but he said he has individual benchmarks he’d like to achieve.
“I think going out there and feeling like myself, feeling confident every game, doing whatever I feel like needs to be done,” LeVert said.
Last season LeVert appeared in 71 games for the Nets and started in 10. He averaged 12.1 points per game, 3.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists.
