Brian Scalabrine takes a selfie with a Seeds of Peace camper during the Play for Peace basketball clinic Monday in Otisfield.
OTISFIELD — They may not know them, they may not love basketball, but they appreciate the basketball stars showing up.
Former NBA players Brian Scalabrine and Matt Bonner and Detroit Pistons rookie Luke Kennard were among the professional basketball players who led Seeds of Peace campers through basketball drills and games as part of the camp’s 15th annual Play for Peace basketball clinic Monday.
“You don’t have the opportunity to meet NBA players back in Israel, for example,” 15-year-old Yoav of Israel said. “And I think it is amazing for some campers here that they really follow those players.
“I mean, I don’t really know them, but it’s exciting even for me.”
Also attending the camp Monday were Pistons Ish Smith and Henry Ellenson, New Orleans Pelicans assistant coach Darren Erman, a former Seeds of Peace counselor and WNBA player Sue Wicks of the New York Liberty.
“They know they’re famous in American basketball, which is like a big deal, so they really look up to them, physically and metaphorically,” said American camper Mathias, age 16, from New York City.
The campers from seven countries — Israel, Palestine, Jordan, India, Pakistan, Egypt and the United States — attend Seeds of Peace for three weeks. They spend much of that time in what is called dialogue, or discussions between campers from other countries, including those that are in conflict with each other.
The campers also spend time playing together and doing activities to get to know each other.
That includes the basketball clinic.
“It means everything to them. It’s fun,” Erman, who was a counselor at the camp in 2003, said. “This camp is a very great camp; it’s very intense, too. I mean you’re talking about dialogue with people when you come here, you kind of look at them as the other side, the enemy, whatever, and now you’re dialoguing every day, and it’s really intense. You’re living in the same bunk together and is really, really intense for them.
“And this basketball portion is a way of having fun. And they see 6-9 giants out there, you can’t help but have fun.”
Scalabrine has been a constant presence of the Play for Peace basketball clinic. He was making 14th appearance in 15 years Monday.
“There’s a lot of basketball camps, and we’ll bring in kids, you know, like kids that aren’t as fortunate, kids from the inner city, just to kind of tell them, you can be successful, if you work hard, if you do the right things, those types of messages,” Scalabrine said. “This message (at Seeds of Peace) is completely different. I think the biggest thing for us is we’re about supporting them. We’re learning as well, but it’s not about, ‘Listen to me, this is how you’ll make it,’ it’s about like, man, that’s crazy the stuff that you have to go through, and we sympathize with you.”
That support means something, according to 16-year-old Husam, of Palestine. The campers don’t always recognize the players, but they realize the players’ stature within American culture.
“Some people really don’t believe that they are actually making a difference,” Husam said. “But when they see that people come from outside, famous people come from the NBA and other places to show that they support in what they’re doing, it does make a huge difference for each person and how they feel towards what they’re doing.”
Kennard was making his first appearance at Seeds of Peace, having been drafted by Detroit in the first round (12th pick) of last month’s NBA Draft after two seasons playing at Duke University.
He heard about the camp from Arn Tellem, a Seeds of Peace board member and former sports agent who now runs the Pistons’ front office.
“He asked me if I would want to come, and after he told me what it was all about, I couldn’t turn it down,” Kennard said.
The players spend the day at the camp, eating meals and attending dialogue. Scalabrine and Bonner both brought their families Monday.
“I think me and my wife and my family get more out of coming here and helping out than the kids do, I believe,” Bonner, a two-time NBA champion with the Spurs, said. “It’s just a very positive, uplifting thing, an inspiring place to support and be a part of.”
Detroit Pistons rookie Luke Kennard, right, plays one-on-one with Itaman, 14, of Israel, during the Seeds of Peace camp’s Play for Peace basketball clinic Monday in Otisfield.
Former NBA player Matt Bonner plays one-on-one against a Seeds of Peace camper during the Play for Peace basketball clinic Monday in Otisfield.
Former Boston Celtic Brian Scalabrine does pushups after his side lost during a basketball drill at the Seeds of Peace’s Play for Peace basketball clinic Monday in Otisfield.
New Orleans Pelicans assistant coach Darren Erman, a former Seeds of Peace counselor, leads campers through drills during the Play for Peace basketball clinic Monday in Otisfield.
Former NBA playerr and current Boston Celtics television analyst Brian Scalabrine posese for a group photo at the Seeds of Peace camp’s Play for Peace basketball clinic Monday in Otisfield.
Brian Scalabrine teaches a shooting motion to Seeds of Peace campers as Matt Bonner, far right, looks on Monday at the Play for Peace basketball clinic in Otisfield.
Brian Scalabrine gets a drink of water during the Seeds of Peace camp’s Play for Peace basketball clinic Monday in Otisfield.
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