By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer

OTISFIELD – Ali Dreidi admits that he was more of an NBA fan when global icon Michael Jordan was lacing up his Nikes for the Bulls and Wizards.

“Nobody will be as good as he was,” said the young Palestinian camper at Seeds of Peace.

But Dreidi was still enjoying himself on a steamy Tuesday afternoon when four NBA players visited the international leadership camp for the annual “Play for Peace” basketball clinic, organized by basketball agent Arn Tellem.

Brian Scalabrine, who will soon sign with the Boston Celtics, led a contingent of four NBA players that also included Jason Collins of the New Jersey Nets, Charlotte Bobcats first-round pick Sean May and L.A. Clippers second-round choice Daniel Ewing, who guided about 200 campers through basketball drills in the late morning and afternoon.

“We’re just here to teach them one thing – people working together to accomplish goals,” said Scalabrine, who like Collins was making his second appearance at the clinic. “We do it in a basketball sense. They do it on a much higher level.”

“To be honest with you, I probably get more out of this than they do,” he added. “Coming here keeps things in perspective. Seeing what people go through and what they deal with means a lot more than winning or losing a basketball game.”

Seeds of Peace brings together teenagers of all races and religions from the Middle East and other parts of the world, including Maine.

The camp uses its leadership program to help participants develop empathy, mutual respect and self-confidence to help create a peaceful coexistence in some of the world’s most conflicted regions.

Fifteen-year-old Shani Cohen of Jerusalem and her fellow campers arrived 10 days ago and has already found the camp to be a unique experience.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see and listen and be with other people, and we do it through all kinds of activities like sports, art, and, of course, dialogue,” Cohen said. “We have a whole variety of things that we can learn from each other.”

“I never thought I would meet people from different cultures and talk with them and become friends with them, but I’ve made friends from different cultures,” Dreidi said.

Activities like the clinic help cement those friendships, Dreidi added.

“It can grow a bond between us,” he said.