Sports clubs can play a vital role in breaking down barriers for vulnerable young people to help develop their life skills on and off the court, according to Plymouth City Patriots coach Paul James.
The 59-year-old recently celebrated his 500th victory as a head coach in the British Basketball League when the Patriots inflicted a first defeat of the season on runaway championship leaders London Lions.
As well as his continued focus at the elite level, James also helps the club run sessions in the community, offering free coaching for young and vulnerable children.
The Patriots are part of a programme which is being delivered locally and supported by nationwide sport for development charity StreetGames, in partnership with the Plymouth Drake Foundation’s children in poverty initiative.
The community organisation projects are designed to help steer young people away from crime and into positive activities aimed at teaching teamwork, resilience and discipline.
James’ professional playing career started as a 17-year-old at his hometown club Leicester then with Bracknell before moving into coaching, which eventually led to a spell in charge of England men’s senior national team.
While some of the youngsters within the Patriots’ community programmes may also have aspirations to get to the top of the sport, James believes just giving someone the chance to develop themselves within a team environment could prove the biggest lasting impact.
“We have got a lot of people playing who ordinarily would not have had an opportunity to play basketball, let alone sport,” James told the PA news agency.
“I look at these kids who are walking around now who have good friendships and a lot of confidence, they are starting to understand teamwork. It is something that they have never really had before.
“A lot of kids have barriers that they face to accessing sport, because they can’t afford it, so StreetGames have a ‘doorstep fund’, which allows us to offer free places for children at our basketball camps.
“It is a chance for them to come out and gives them an opportunity to play basketball, something they normally wouldn’t have an opportunity to do, so we are very proud to partner with StreetGames to be able to offer this to vulnerable kids.”
James feels playing sports can only help provide a positive outlet for youngsters to grow, both physically and also for their own mental health.
“I think it was different back then (when I started out) – you could be outside playing whatever sport all day, every day,” James said.
“That is not the case now and I certainly see that in some of the children that we are working with. I think a lot of that is down to not having access to sports or access to do things.
“But I feel that it is not just about coaching, it is about life skills.
“Yes basketball is there, it is a facility to get people off the street and get them involved in sport – but it is about your mental health and actually being a good person, treating people how you want to be treated.
“There is an important part for us coaches to play in just general life skills and advising kids of the way to be, how to handle yourself.
“It is definitely more than just having an hour session coaching – it is spending time with them, asking ‘how are you feeling today? How is school doing?’
“It is asking all those questions, just really trying to help and guide them, give them confidence to be able to speak out and just talk about how they are feeling.”
On the court, James is hoping the Patriots, currently a couple of points behind eighth place, can build some momentum to make a late run for the end-of-season play-offs.
“We have got a really good group of guys and are working exceptionally hard. It is just trying to find that consistency,” he said.
“Our aim for the season is to make the play-offs if we can, so we have still got time to do that.”
Victor Wembanyama makes history with All-Defensive team selection
San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama became the first rookie to be voted to the NBA’s All-Defensive first team when the league unveiled the voting on Tuesday.
Wembanyama received 98 of a possible 99 first-team votes to add to an impressive list of accolades after his first NBA season.
Rudy Gobert, the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year, was the only unanimous first-team selection.
Gobert and Wembanyama were joined on the first team by the Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans’ Herb Jones.
Gobert was voted All-Defence for the seventh time in his career, all on the first team.
Adebayo, long considered a top-tier defender, was selected to the first team for the first time in his career. Even the veterans, however, were appreciative of Wembanyama’s rookie campaign.
“Coming into this league, obviously he had high expectations because he's 7-3 and shooting step-back 3s. I think a lot of people paid attention more to that than what he actually did on the defensive end,” Adebayo said of Wembanyama. “So, for him to get first team, first come around, it's obviously a great accolade for him.”
Wembanyama led the league with 3.58 blocked shots per game, over a block more per game than any other player. The towering Frenchman was also eighth in the league at 10.6 rebounds per game and ranked in the top 25 with 1.24 steals per game.
This was the first season of position-less voting for the All-Defence teams, leading to a strong preference for interior defenders, but perimeter players were well-represented on the second team.
The Chicago Bulls’ Alex Caruso, the Orlando Magic’s Jalen Suggs, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Jaden McDaniels and Boston Celtics backcourt mates Jrue Holiday and Derrick White were voted to the All-Defensive second team.
The league will announce its three All-NBA teams on Wednesday.
NBA All-Rookie team headlined by Wembanyama, Holmgren
San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama was unanimously selected to the NBA's All-Rookie first team.
The NBA revealed its All-Rookie teams on Monday, and Wembanyama's inclusion was hardly a surprise, considering he was unanimously named the league's Rooke of the Year two weeks ago.
Oklahoma City Thunder big man Chet Holgmren, who finished second to Wembanyama in rookie of the year voting, was also a unanimous selection to the NBA's All-rookie first team, appearing on all 99 ballots.
Joining Wembanyama and Holmgren on the first team are Charlotte Hornets guard-forward Brandon Miller, Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Golden State Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski.
Jaquez, who also appeared on all 99 ballots, finished fourth in All-rookie team voting with Miller finishing third and Podziemski in fifth.
The NBA All-Rookie second team includes Derek Lively II of the Dallas Mavericks, the Houston Rockets' Amen Thompson, the Memphis Grizzlies' GG Jackson II, the Thunder's Cason Wallace and Keyonte George of the Utah Jazz.
Wembanyama, who became the first player to unanimously win NBA Rookie of the Year honours since Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns in 2015-16, averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists and a league-leading 3.6 blocks in 71 games in 2023-24.
After finishing second to Minnesota's Rudy Gobert in voting for the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award two weeks ago, Wembanyama seems like a lock to be named to this season's All-Defensive team, which will be revealed Tuesday.
If he is named to either the All-Defensive team or All-NBA team, which is announced Wednesday, he'll be the first rookie to do so since fellow Spurs star Tim Duncan in 1998.
'It's a failure, not fatal' - Malone rallies Nuggets after Wolves defeat
Michael Malone reflects on a hard end to the season after the Minnesota Timberwolves pulled off a historic comeback to beat the Denver Nuggets.
The Nuggets let a 20-point lead slip in the third quarter at home to lose 98-90 in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals as the Timberwolves denied them a chance at a second straight league title.
Minnesota trailed 53-38 at half-time – the largest deficit a Game 7 winner has overcome in NBA post-season history.
Asked what went wrong in the second half, Malone did not have too many answers.
"That's what's hard," Malone said. "F*** being up 20. Season's over. It's hard."
"This is just a momentary delay. It's a failure, it's not fatal. We'll be back.
"The better team won, so I'm taking nothing away from Minnesota ... but mentally, emotionally, physically, I think guys are gassed. They're dead tired.
"They gave me everything I could ever ask for, and that's why as much as this hurts, I'll walk out of this building tonight with my head held very high."
Denver dropped the first two games of the series at home but won the next three to get themselves back on track to challenge for a repeat NBA title.
Jamal Murray scored 35 points for the Nuggets, while Nikola Jokic added 34, but the former thinks the team were just lacking an edge at the end of the game.
"Just mentally and physically, conjuring up the energy to fight like you're being hunted," Murray said. "I think that's the emotion.
"When you're the hunter, you have so much more motivation and you grasp on to anything to prove everybody wrong and you have a constant chip on your shoulder.
"I don't know. I feel like we should have won tonight. That's the tough part. They beat us, but we had so many great opportunities, including myself, so it's just tough, man."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
