People think it's hard, and it is, but when I'm around KJ, that's the only time I can really get away from [basketball]. So all of this has been more than me. Keifer Sykes' 3-pointer wins TBT for Boeheim's Army. "It was a surreal moment," Bell said of watching his son be born. He did not sleep overnight. He carried the Phoenix to a 75-72 victory with 21 points and a game-high 10 assists, compared to 17 points and six rebounds from Brogdon. Simple things, like sleeping patterns. One thing Lisa Sykes made sure to add is, while her son shined the spotlight squarely on her, she didnt raise him alone. Home. Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell said their plan was always to help Sykes get closer to his dream. Mitchell become familiar with Sykes through his overseas play and thought he'd played out of position at shooting guard for most of his pro career. Keifer Sykes, Indiana Pacers As a small guard playing in a big city, Sykes was consistently underappreciated and underranked. After shining with the Austin Spurs throughout the 2015-16 campaign, Sykes joined the Warriors for the 2016 Summer League, but he wasnt picked up by Golden State or another franchise ahead of the season. Every year he's gotten better at balancing and understanding that. Suddenly he was holding ice chips and helping her breathe through the birth. New Mexico and Mississippi State -- schools in the two states with the highest teen pregnancy rates in the country, feature players who are fathers. Neither player entered the game, and McKinnie has since been waived, but that night McKinnie was just proud to exchange matching No. Its all demonstrated in the documentary, Carlisle said after the game. "I wasn't trying to map out a strategy to go pro. He kept it from her as long as possible; the "entire school" knew about it, but she didn't. More than a decade later, and after making a name for himself overseas, the only box Sykes said he had left to check was to beat the odds his younger self foretold and finally play in an NBA game. Wardle, who is now the head coach at Bradley, called James Sykes a tremendous man, the type who, alongside Lisa Sykes, wanted his son to be held to the highest standard in all areas. Luckily for Wardle, he said he never had to spend too much energy in those departments because even though Sykes was just 17 when he made his college debut making him one of the youngest players in the country he was prepared beyond his years. "I immediately fell in love with her.". Keifer Sykes is an American athlete and professional basketball player. After a game at Indiana in 2012, Dawson asked coach Tom Izzo if he could ride with his family from Bloomington to Indianapolis to escape and spend one night with his son. "She was really scared to tell me," Dawson said of his girlfriend's pregnancy. Even when I got here, (Boucek) just following me on Instagram and Twitter, and telling me alwaysto continue to chip away at it.". Sykes said it was devastating to never receive his final payment, but he refused to surrender to his tough times aboard and eventually had a breakthrough campaign in Australia with the South East Melbourne Phoenix of the National Basketball League. One team has a player with two children born from two women three months apart. On Tuesday morning, Buchanan got into a car with his father, aunt and uncle and drove nearly four hours to join his team in Dayton, Ohio. Branden does not carry his father's last name. But since Sykes' family felt he was already being overlooked due to his stature, they decided to send him an hour across town to Marshall on the West Side, where his dream of being a basketball star had a better chance of flourishing. Joniah Jr. lives 260 miles away, in Grenada, Mississippi, while his dad is getting his sea legs under him as a freshman in Ruston, Louisiana. NBA News. Sykes said he also shared a moment over the phone Thursday night with fellow Chicago native and former high school and collegeteammate Alfonzo McKinnie, who now playsfor the Bulls. His camp is having trouble getting them admitted into the road arenas. And when Michigan State's got a road game, he'll ask Johnny or Devonte, "Is that my dad playing?". [30][31] He was waived on April 7, 2022. Sykes, 21, just won his second straight Horizon League Player of the Year honor. And to get back and go to my high school and give my jersey, to see all of the people there the men that helped me become a man, the role models that played a role in my life and inspired me, that helped me I think today was the first day I was able to look up like, Man, its really real.. That's money which now goes toward feeding their baby boy, Ricardo Darnell Gathers Jr., who came into the world at 4:53 a.m. on June 13, 2014. My own trainers telling me, 'Prepare and train for overseas,' and I'm telling them, 'No.' He later joined the San Antonio Spurs on 28 September 2015. This is a blessed, beautiful evening, and it's blessed and beautiful because it ends the way Sykes wants every game to end: with a boisterous embrace of his son, Keifer Sykes Jr. KJ, they call him. I went into his room like, Yo, my dad died, and thats when it hit me.. Sykes had nearly 100 ticket requests for this game, and he will not disappoint the familiars. As Sykes sat in the Pacers' practice facility after shootaround Tuesday, he laughed as he reflected on his Italian team, Scandone Avellino, going bankrupt after the 2018-19 season and failing to pay its players their full salaries. Sykes, a 5ft 11in (1.80m) point guard, was born in Chicago, Illinois, to the late James Sykes as the second oldest of seven children. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,600],'biographyhost_com-medrectangle-4','ezslot_1',164,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-biographyhost_com-medrectangle-4-0'); Throughout his career, Sykesrepresentedseveral basketball clubs worldwide like Anyang KGC (Korean Basketball league), Ankara DSI (Turkish Club), Felice Scandone (Italian Club), etc. Although Sykes has not brought details of his wife in light, he is a father to his son Hugo and daughter Zarah. Sykes is from the South Side of Chicago, so he was originally supposed to attend Hyde Park Academy, Simeon or St. Rita, which have all produced pro players. When he's running around, jumping, having fun, I can't do nothing but laugh. I had a translator the whole time, so I never knew what my coach said, and I never really knew what my teammates said either.. A few births have been by choice, but obviously many occur by accident. She ran back downstairs to get my brother, and he said he was trying to perform CPR and when they called the police and the police got there, they tried but they couldn't bring him back to life.". Stephen A. Smith discusses why the Lakers are a better . The only thing thats changed lately is his platform. Whereas Dawson did not have a prominent father, Sykes' relationship with his was irrepressible. The two helped Marshall finish third in the Class 3A Illinois high school boys basketball state tournament in 2010, and 12 years later they were on opposing sides of an NBA game for the first time when Sykes and the Pacers hosted McKinnie and their hometown Bulls on Feb 4. The death of Sykes father painfully added to that. If anything, Sykes being a dad was a positive. My'Shawn's mother lives back in Indiana; it was her idea to have father and child live together this season, in part because she's working night shifts at a Speedway to save money and find some quiet that was lost during the early years of My'Shawn's life. Oh my God, that melted me, Lisa Sykes said, her voice shaking. Simple things about how to feed your baby. When I was like, Oh, Im small, he was like, Nah, you can go to the NBA. So all I wanted to do is take care of her. Keifer Sykes was born on 30 December, 1993 in Chicago, Illinois, United States, is an American basketball player. KJ doesn't know just yet how his grandfather died -- or even what death is, or that people disappear from the world in abrupt and unfair ways. He's going beyond the expectations of being there for his son. I have made past mistakes in my life, and God continues to make a way for us. I asked a tearful Keifer Sykes (@ksykesyb), whose contract was guaranteed by the #Pacers, how he thinks his mom, Lisa (@Supermom00767), will react when he talks to her.She deserve this more than anybody. Where the family is. Thats the heros journey, Sykes said. And if you got children, I got your childrens back because youre doing something positive.. Keifer Sykes is 6-0 (183 cm) tall. A lot of people don't see the world until college. Sykes won the 2015 Horizon League player of the year to join the elite company of players to win the award twice. The 4 year old sat behind Green Bay's bench, in section 115, watching his dad make history last Thursday. In thesix years of his professional career, Sykes has played for various leagues worldwide, including the NBA and NBA G League. A chain response of fear, as it often does with teen pregnancies, triggered a stress reaction. So they bring the other (American) player in and start working him out so they can be ready and they tell you whatever games you have that week, and at the end of the week they decide to keep you or cut you. And I was just like, OK, Imma kill, because if you dont do your thing, youre out.. I told them, 'Don't have any babies. Until she did. Moreover, Sykes graduated from there with a degree in Communications. I was gonna have to fight an uphill battle, so I was already ready for it if I didnt get drafted.. "I tell them I grew up just as disenfranchised and poverty-stricken as they were. Pictured below, there he is in the hospital with his girlfriend, Kylee, and his baby girl, Maddox, born three weeks ago -- smack dab in the middle of the season. He then joined the franchises G League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, and after shining as the teams floor general, he was called up Dec. 27, made his NBA debut against Charlotte on Dec. 29 the day before his 28th birthday scored his first NBA points against his hometown Bulls on Dec. 31 and signed a guaranteed deal for the rest of the season Jan. 7. They just don't know. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'biographyhost_com-box-4','ezslot_3',131,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-biographyhost_com-box-4-0');if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'biographyhost_com-box-4','ezslot_4',131,'0','1'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-biographyhost_com-box-4-0_1');.box-4-multi-131{border:none!important;display:block!important;float:none!important;line-height:0;margin-bottom:7px!important;margin-left:auto!important;margin-right:auto!important;margin-top:7px!important;max-width:100%!important;min-height:250px;padding:0;text-align:center!important}. "The team was always paying us late, and they didn't think we would make the playoffs, but we got in the last spot, played the No. 1:08; See All. Back home in Chicago, one of Sykes former high school coaches, Shawn Shake Harrington, watched it all unfold in tears. Ithink the basket was moving. One afternoon Keifer was on the green line, headed back home, when he got a call. Keifer Sykes was on campus after his freshman season at Wisconsin-Green Bay, taking summer classes and going through workouts, when his phone rang around 7:30 a.m. His older brother, Jarvis Tucker, was on the other end. [26] The team later tried to sign Sykes to a contract for another month, but Sykes balked, wanting an agreement through the end of the year, and was let go by Panathinaikos at the end of October. Every situation is different. He was 55. But that nightmare hasn't ended, neither has the pain. Having not yet committed to Michigan State, the stress of choosing a college only added to Dawson's ongoing personal strain. My'Shawn's been to almost every Spartans home game this season, sitting with Dawson's high school coach, Johnny Ryan, and a former teammate, Devonte Harris. And now, when he's not escaping for trips to be with dad at Green Bay, KJ practically lives with his grandmother. She's been a tremendous help to our players and our players' girlfriends. "I was speechless," he said. You gotta be a hero to do that, to stand up in front of these kids and let them know like, I got cut from the NBA yesterday, but Imma keep pushing and try to make it, and then come back later and show them that I made it. Keifer Sykes: Waived by Indiana. "My players say I don't understand, but I do understand," Ray said. His father, his best friend, was dead. "He's a ball of fire," Green Bay coach Brian Wardle said of KJ. However, they waived him on 21 October of the same year, after three preseason games. The annual $1 million tourney features several alumni squads from around the country filled with professional players, and while Sykes was hesitant to play in TBT at first, it resulted in one of the best moments of his career. James Sykes, a former vice president of the Broadway Armory Park association, is buried at Memorial Gardens in Homewood, Illinois. KJ crowned around dinnertime on Aug. 3, 2010, at Mount Sinai Medical Center. "At this point, she's three months pregnant," Keifer said. His performance warranted praise from Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, who has repeatedly noted how remarkable Sykes career has been. I couldnt tell you that he was going to make a million-dollar shot or make it to the NBA, but from the time he was 13-years-old and getting ready to come to high school, I knew that boy was special., I asked #Suns star Devin Booker about his relationship with #Pacers rookie Keifer Sykes. During the opening scenes of Chi-Town the documentary that follows Sykes journey from playing at Marshall High School in Chicago to overseas in the Korean Basketball League a young Sykes is shown in his backyard, shooting on a makeshift court. He was just a really good man. Keifer, whose birth was not planned, came two days before 1994. Sykes, wearing a black hat with "purpose." Dawson grew up with a mother who loved him dearly and worked at a local hospital -- the same one My'Shawn was born at -- but there was a wall of fear he couldn't mount. "Those of us that know his story, (it's) very compelling, and this is a culmination of a lot of work and a big dream.". Undrafted out of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in 2015, Sykes went on to play with the Austin Spurs - the San Antonio Spurs' NBA G-League affiliate - for his first professional season . "I know she's probably gonna cry (when I talk to her) because it's bringing tears to my eyes right now," Sykes said, his voice cracking. When I first committed, I didn't know where basketball would take me. "She's the key to being married, to being a dad. Sykes was waived by the Pacers on Wednesday, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports. GB3 -- Bell's nickname for his son -- came out crying on Jan. 10, 2014, at 10 o'clock in the morning, 19 inches long and weighing six pounds. This is my path, and thats just what it is. Sykes is featured in the 2018 documentary film Chi-Town, produced and directed by Nick Budabin. He's a guy that people have underestimated, whether its his size or what school he went to, and hes clearly continued to work on his game, to grind, to believe in himself. Green Bay's Henry Uwadiae, a 6-foot-11 Nigerian-born sophomore, had a daughter born last summer. Every time dad gets home, son takes it right to the hoop. Hes gonna have the film footage, and its the continuation of truly one of the amazing stories in sport.. Being silly. Mitchell said he keeps in touch with Sykes and, because of the time difference between the U.S. and Australia, the Phoenix often watch Pacers games when they get out of practice in the afternoon. For his senior season, Sykes had high expectations as he was placed on the Bob Cousy Award Watch List (later becoming a Cousy Award Finalist), the Wooden Award Watch List, and the Naismith Award Watch List during the preseason. "The sacrifices she made, man. Dawson remembers that. On August 3, 2019, Sykes signed with the Guangzhou Loong Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association. (In this case, an ex-girlfriend of Kiefer's told her.) Once my brother left, I went to school by myself. "At first there was a lot of fear. He has just one full sibling, James Sykes Jr., and seven more half-siblings: DaVon, Jarvis, Kristie, Jameeka, Rashaunda, Shakeeya and Antwan. From grade school to now, I really paid the cost. "I was on thetraining table. She's going through the same thing these young ladies are going through. This is a man who fondly recalls buying a $134 ring from Walmart the night before he proposed. 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