So Im always a fan of guys like Keifer that defy the odds.. Harrington praised Sykes for his resiliency throughout his triumphant but often tough career. 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. But in talking to dozens of college coaches for this story, you discover that that this is a more common situation than you might think. You can go to college. Afterward, Dawson revealed his son was taken to the hospital two days earlier on account of pneumonia. Sykes said he had to rely on nonverbal communication skills to get on the same page as his counterparts, and after developing chemistry and playing well, it still wasnt enough. Gathers, who's likely to return for his senior season, said his household of three is living off $15,000 per year. Follow IndyStar Pacers beat writer James Boyd on Twitter: @RomeovilleKid. "You can hear him in the stands. "I do not want to go pro overseas," he said. From mother to son. See, the basketball part, thats easy. [3], After graduating high school, Sykes committed to play college basketball for coach Brian Wardle and eventually alongside Marshall teammates Alfonzo McKinnie and Vincent Garret, at Green Bay. And life off the court has been pock-marked with losses and tragedies tied to the gun violence that has riddled the streets of Chicago for a century. 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. The undersized guard scored a career- and team-high22 points Tuesday against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden and went toe-to-toe Wednesday with Nets superstar Kyrie Irving, who made his season debut in Indianapolis. There was yelling on one end of the line and a 15-year-old stomach swirling to mush on the other. Both anticipated that their contracts would be guaranteed through the end of the seasonFriday, and McKinnie was retained, too. By the time Wardle got to Sykes' dorm room, Sykes had locked himself in the bathroom as he grappled with one overarching and unshakable thought: The life he had before he went to sleep was gone. At the conclusion of the regular season, Sykes was again named first team all-conference, he was named an honorable mention AP All-American, and was named Horizon Player of the Year. After a successful college career, Sykesplayed the 2015 NBA Summer Leaguewith the Cleveland Cavaliers. I remember being cut by the Pacers (before the season) and having to tell my son that I got cut, feeling like I just got cut in front of everybody, and I still had to do a seventh- and eighth-grade camp the next day. More:Pacers swingmen Torrey Craig, Justin Anderson enter NBA's COVID-19 protocols. He still gets frazzled thinking back to cutting KJ's umbilical cord, which he hesitantly failed to prune on first attempt, and only succeeded on the second snip under the loving demands of his father that he cut his son's cord. "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.". When James passed away, it was hard on everybody, but something definitely clicked in Keifer, Wardle said. Sykes spent one season in South Korea, but he said that was just the beginning of the hardships he faced as he continued playing in Italy, Greece, Turkey and China. "More basketball players have the opportunity to have sex with more girls. Like I said, I feel like I have one of the better stories, one of the best stories ever, when you think about what I had to go through.". I dont know why they wouldnt allow this story to be continued in as much detail as possible. [9] A loss in the Horizon League tournament, due in part to a Sykes injury, led the Phoenix to missing an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament and playing in the National Invitation Tournament. He was even more so on a mission than he was before.. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. When Sykes joined the Phoenix, they were an expansion team in Year 2 of their development, and according to Mitchell, no one expected much from them or Sykes. I didn't have goals to go further. "That was the hardest part, telling her, and the first thing she said was, 'She's going to be cute.'". A young man will ask his boy about his father. I met with director Nick Budabin and star Keifer Sykes, of the new documentary Chi-Town (which I also reviewed), on Monday, March 12, at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival.The film, which follows Sykes from the end of his high-school basketball career through the end of college, and just beyond, is like a sequel, of sorts, to the great Steve James' 1994 Hoop Dreams. Sykes was selected in the second round of the 2016 Korean Basketball League by the Anyang Korea Ginseng Corporation, taking a 15-hour trip across the world that began a roughly five-year journey abroad. Keifer Sykes weighs 180 lbs (81 kg). We come from poverty. It wasn't a happy cry. [29] He was waived at the end of training camp. The Pacers' Keifer Sykes.AP Hows your team doing? he asked another. SMU sophomore Keith Frazier, who's been suspended for the season, is a dad to a boy who's nearly 3 years old. 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. 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. So I really had to focus in and just go out there and do what I do.". More: After hitting $1 million shot, Keifer Sykes signed with Pacers to be closer to home, Its only one team that wins out of 64, so the chances are whatever, Sykes said. Korea checks hit $250,000, but it's cutthroat", "Long Lions agree terms with Keifer Sykes", "Turk Telekom Ankara officially signs Keifer Sykes", "Panathinaikos announces 1-month deal with Keifer Sykes", "Panathinaikos to part ways with Keifer Sykes", "Phoenix Complete Roster with Keifer Sykes", "Pacers Sign Washington Jr., Sykes, Taylor", "Keifer Sykes earns NBA Call-Up with the Indiana Pacers", "Pacers Sign Terry Taylor And Duane Washington, Jr", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Keifer_Sykes&oldid=1120027463, American expatriate basketball people in Australia, American expatriate basketball people in Greece, American expatriate basketball people in Italy, American expatriate basketball people in South Korea, American expatriate basketball people in Turkey, Green Bay Phoenix men's basketball players, Undrafted National Basketball Association players, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 4 November 2022, at 18:08. Sykes said he nearly "gave up on everything" after his father's death, but he kept going through countless sleepless nights to carry on James Sykes' legacy. I finally opened it when I gathered my strength and the coaches were all crying, everybody was crying. Sykes, Dawson and Gathers all have teammates who are dads. I told him, 'Boost me up to 99 right now, and put me against Steph Curry! Its all demonstrated in the documentary, Carlisle said after the game. Keifer frequently shows his son photos to remind him. He felt shock, and immediately told his father. Dawson's fellow father teammate is junior Bryn Forbes, who had a boy, Carter, born when Forbes played at Cleveland State. "(My mom) put it together after the fact," Sykes said. [2] He starred at John Marshall Metropolitan High School in Chicago, where he was named second team All-Chicago Public High School League by the Chicago Sun-Times. Keifer, along with six of his siblings and half-siblings, took the red line train with mom and dad to City Hall. Keifer Sykes is an American athlete and professional basketball player. The hardest thing was the drive. Every situation is different. Keifer Sykes would have used his share of the $2 million championship prize to help his Free 10 Foundation and his church. Sykes' son represents an overlooked and under-discussed fact of life for so many college athletes: fatherhood. Her husband, James, Keifer Sykes father, was there every step of the way, encouraging him to chase his dream, reminding him that his influence will always be bigger than basketball and instilling values in his son that Keifer Sykes still carries with him nearly a decade after his dads death. After waiting for months, Dawson found the courage while plopped on a bus headed to Milwaukee. 'I told you don't let him go to that school.'". He was just a really good man. However, Wanamaker struggled in the 22 games he appeared in, averaging 3.5 points on 36.1% . 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. With these body stats, he has recorded his highest vertical jump of 44.5 inches. [14] On September 28, 2015, he signed with the San Antonio Spurs,[15] only to be waived by the team on October 21 after appearing in three preseason games. It's Feb. 26, 2015, the night Green Bay's Keifer Sykes plays his final game in his hometown area, in front of a band of family and friends. We commit to cover sensible issues responsibly through the principles of neutrality. 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. These are the guys helping Dawson, watching the little one when he's away, driving My'Shawn to and from pre-K school sessions. Crawford's son lives in Memphis. I want the kid around. 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 . Why do the Pacers keep losing close games? Over Indianas past two games,Sykes is averaging 20.0points, 5.5assists and 3.5rebounds while shooting 53.8% from the field, 50.0% on 3-pointers and 85.7% at the free-throw line. Sykes cashes a deep 3-pointer as time expires at the end of the first half. "As a coach, you would love to have all parents talk to him in a lot of ways. I can't wait to talk to her. "She heard a thump, which was him falling over, but she didn't think nothing of it. KJ just can't wait to be 5 years old. 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. Because KJ wants to be a big boy really fast. I just repeated it like, Remember what your dad said. His dad taught him everything he knows about being a man, being responsible and taking the lead in everything you do.. After competing in Australia, Sykes was recruited by former Syracuse star Eric Devendorf to play for the Oranges alumni team, Boeheim's Army, in The Basketball Tournament. Chicago. He did not sleep overnight. So I was processing it, and then I didnt know what to do. Sykes joined the Pacers in late December after the team released reserve point guard Brad Wanamaker. The former University of Wisconsin-Green Bay star . You could be winning and they still try to nitpick at something. May 14 is the due date. So she was downstairs cooking, and their room was upstairs, so when she went upstairs, that's when she saw that he was passed out. He relies on the motto, "More God," meaning that whenever he's faced with adversity, he'll trust God even more and remain the course. It's nothing else but about KJ.". His performance warranted praise from Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, who has repeatedly noted how remarkable Sykes career has been. Wardle describes it as the hardest situation of his career, far beyond anything he faced during the summer of 2013, when accusations of verbal mistreatment from former Green Bay players threatened his job. A tremendous man," Wardle said. "When I see him play against his favorite people, seeing him playing against Chris Paul and he went to Chris Pauls camp, its like its (full) circle.. Keifer Sykes was clutch in the fourth quarter for Boeheim's Army. Obviously the city is gonna be so happy,"Sykes said. " My heart was just filled with so much joy when he got what he wanted, and thats to play in the NBA for his dream, Lisa Sykes said. [8] In a 6966 loss to Wisconsin, Sykes scored 32 points, including a highlight dunk in the first possession of the game. On April 5, the 5-11 guard was autographing mini basketballs and. He didn't sleep through the night, and in the darkest hour, their child was born. Keifer said that conversation will probably come in the next year or so. So all of this has been more than me. "I tried to hold back the tears. in the Turkish TBL, posting 22.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. Sykes said his indomitable spirit was instilled in him by his father, who put him in school a year early because he could handle it. And whenever Sykes thought he was too young or too small, his father would tell him not to give up. I just needed to be myself, so I went into the bathroom, but I couldnt really get back up, Sykes said. Some schools turned down interview requests. And if you got children, I got your childrens back because youre doing something positive.. Despite all of those who tried to put a ceiling on his career as hetraveledthe world,there was always at least one person back home reminding Sykes to shoot for the stars: his mom, Lisa. The two-time Horizon League Player of the Year scores a career-best 36 against UIC, helping the Phoenix win 72-67. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but Brogdon will never forget his introduction to Sykes. At the end of the season, Sykes was named to the Horizon League All-Newcomer team. Basketballer Keifer Sykes is Marshall High' star point guard, Chi-Town follows his ambitions to make it in the NBA while loss, injury, and violence back home in Chicago punctuate his journey. "Over time, shock turned into excitement," White said of his world changing as a 17-year-old. Like Freeman, Johnson's been a father for only a few weeks. of the Basketball Super League. Just being able to see him now, its been crazy. New Mexico and Mississippi State -- schools in the two states with the highest teen pregnancy rates in the country, feature players who are fathers. Sykes grew up on southeast side of Chicago, on East 67th Street and South Cregier, in a project apartment complex. The Pacers had Sykes and Wanamaker in training camp and kept the veteran Wanamaker when the season began. Life is too short. At James Sykes' urging, and Keifer's own interest in ending the courtship of so many other coaching staffs, he committed fairly early as a junior. 6-keys: media/spln/collegebasketball/reg/free/stories, at "Most four-year players have a teammate at some point who is either having a child or has had a child," Illinois state coach Dan Muller, who's coached a few dads, said. So long as his health is good, he'll have earned a pro contract by then. With Keifer Sykes. Stephen A.: Lakers won't advance beyond play-in without LeBron. Earlier that day, Sykes was at Marshall High School in Chicago, his alma mater, about a 25-minute drive from Proviso East, giving away coats and hope. 2023 www.indystar.com. I could never do that. 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. He's the boss.". Sykes' relationship with his son is the connection he carries from the one he had with his father, that connection he still feels, but one that inevitably dims with the passage of time. A few births have been by choice, but obviously many occur by accident. The best rebounder in college basketball, perhaps the most intimidating player in the sport, is a father. Like Buchanan, and others currently playing college hoops, BYU's Josh Sharp also became a father last fall. Being silly. And I think we were able to give him that. I wanted to wait a few days," Bell said. . I couldnt believe it.. . Sykes is featured in the 2018 documentary film Chi-Town, produced and directed by Nick Budabin. He kept it from her as long as possible; the "entire school" knew about it, but she didn't. He'll have his headstone then, and he'll have his son and grandson touching it. "I tell them I grew up just as disenfranchised and poverty-stricken as they were. Anyang Korea Ginseng Corporation (20162017), Horizon League Men's Basketball Player of the Year, 2013 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, "Horizon League Announces Men's Basketball Award Winners", "McCallum Leads Men's Basketball Award Winners", "Sykes Named to Bob Cousy Award Watch List", "Green Bay holds on to beat Virginia 75-72", "Phoenix Keifer Sykes crosses the 2,000 mark", "Sykes named AP honorable mention All-American", "Green Bay's Sykes is HL Player of the Week", "Keifer Sykes will be in Final Four dunk contest", "Cavs Announce 2015 Samsung NBA Summer League Roster", "Spurs announce 2015-16 training camp roster", "Spurs waive Fredette, Ndoye, Sykes and Thomas", "AUSTIN SPURS ANNOUNCE 2015 RETURNING PLAYERS AND TRAINING CAMP INVITEES", "Cotton, Spurs Rout Legends as Satnam Singh Debuts", "NBA D-League Announces Full Roster for elite mini camp", "Terrico White, Michael Efevberha, Keifer Sykes selected in KBL draft. "It's my job to do what my dad did and tell him who my dad was," Keifer said. When I first committed, I didn't know where basketball would take me. My own trainers telling me, 'Prepare and train for overseas,' and I'm telling them, 'No.' "When I got there, I was nervous, and it was kind of surreal," he said. This is a man who fondly recalls buying a $134 ring from Walmart the night before he proposed. Its the shift (within in the community) that matters more.. He and his wife/high school sweetheart, Laura, are expecting. Trivante Bloodman is a 22-year-old senior guard from Harlem who's barely been able to sleep in the past week. The 21-year-old Bears power forward, a second cousin to the late Hank Gathers (who died 25 years to the day of this story's publishing), married his longtime girlfriend on June 10, 2013. More:Why do the Pacers keep losing close games? One of his brothers had called him before Wardle could break the news. "My stomach just dropped when I saw what he looked like. He averaged 11.2 points and 3.3 assists per game. He hasn't yet made his NBA dream fit inside his 6-foot frame. In addition to having the second-highest teen pregnancy rate, Mississippi charts as the poorest state in the nation. At Marshall, we were a basketball powerhouse, and it was a Chicago public school. I remember looking up in the clouds like, My dad is in heaven already? Ill never forget that I was holding myself together until we got to the corner and turned down my block, thats when I was just like, Damn and broke down like crazy. 12:00 am ET, Branden Dawson celebrates by cutting down the net after Michigan State won the East Regional Final of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Sykes had nearly 100 ticket requests for this game, and he will not disappoint the familiars. I thought I was going to pass out, but I stayed strong. 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. You scope college basketball, and the stories are everywhere. I didn't want my children to go through that. Since leaving the university after his senior year, Sykes has played in the NBA G-League, over seas, back to the G-League, and finally was presented an opportunity seven years after his college. Thats the Keifer Sykes Effect., Its bigger than what yall seeing and what we're seeing as far as him making it to the Pacers. Why is Keifer the father he is? "It was a surreal moment," Bell said of watching his son be born. Lisa runs an out-of-home daycare operation. The drive was like three hours and I had been on the same trip probably 15 times, but this time it just felt so different. I had a rim in my garage, and Id pull it out in the alley, and we would let the rim down to like 8 feet so (Sykes) could dunk with the rest of us. And like Dawson and Sykes, he's a pro prospect. I was an All-Star, we won the regular-season (league) title and postseason title, but over there its so cutthroat, Sykes said. But in true Sykes fashion, he blocked out the naysayers and helped the Phoenix make the playoffs, finishing fourth in the 10-team league before being knocked out in the final four. After Saturday games, White drives east through the dark trails and over the Mississippi border to spend his Sundays with Joniah Jr. Memphis' Kedren Johnson can relate. His college scholarship goes toward rent. On July 21, 2016, he was selected by Anyang KGC in the second round of the 2016 KBL draft.[20]. Sykes,who was with the Pacers in the preseason before being waived, starred with Indiana's G-League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, averaging 16.3 points and a league-high 8.0 assists in 13 games this season. [30][31] He was waived on April 7, 2022. Weve actually talked about (that game) once or twice, and I brought it up just to see if he remembered it, Brogdon said. It's an intense situation for Ray and plenty of coaches who've become surrogate fathers in plenty of ways, this being a prominent one. [10] For the second time in his career, he was named to the Honorable Mention AP All-American team. Sykes went scoreless in his NBA debut against Charlotte on Dec. 29 and twodays later totaledtwo pointsagainst his hometown Bulls. We've had them come in as a group and have my wife talking about child-rearing. Playing for two beating hearts. And like Sykes, when Dawson found out he was going to be a father, he had zero interest in letting his mother know right away what he'd gotten himself into. It's a lot of bloodshed in my city, a lot people dying, and I feel like God placed me in this position also to shed light on those things and to show that some people are able to be talented and get out, but some people aren't. His son, My'Shawn, was born March 30, 2010. "When she told me, I kind of freaked out. "He earned it," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said of Sykes' contract being guaranteed for the rest of the season. He's got a goofy personality and caring heart but also boasts a paternal side that's as sanguine as it is dedicated. "At this point, she's three months pregnant," Keifer said. Hes so well-rounded. A lot of people really wanted to get to that league, especially at that time when COVID was everywhere in the world and they just had less cases," Sykes said. Sharp and his wife, Jordan, planned the pregnancy. Yet, Forbes in 2019 evaluated that he must be receiving a minimum NBA salary which was $900,000. Keifer Sykes was a two-time Horizon League Player of the Year at Green Bay. Hed come so close in the past and inched even closer with a shot that turned him into an overnight sensation. Doctors had to wait until the baby boy was just a little bit bigger, a little bit heavier, and a little bit older before they cut into his chest and sewed up the hole in his heart. When the family moved into a three-bedroom place on the west side, "We'd have a bedroom, three boys on one side, three girls on one side," Keifer said, "and sometimes the boys would share the couch.". Then he sank a 17-footer over . The game-winner capped. I told my family, 'I think the basket is moving or something,'"Sykes said, laughing. Their relationship was so strong, their parents were OK with Bria moving to Waco, enrolling in a community college, and living in her own apartment at 18. Everything was going so fast.". 1:08; See All. Sykes, a self-described daddy's boy, wasn't worried that being a father might hurt his chances in recruitment. Sykes said his mother will be in attendance for his sixthNBA game and first asaguaranteed player Saturday night when the Pacers host Utah at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. He wasn't. Afterward, he takes dozens of pictures and shakes the hands of nearly 200 people, plenty of whom he does not know. 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. "She's the key to being married, to being a dad. 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]. With the championship and money on the line, he drained the game-winning 3 to lift Boeheims army to a 69-67 walk-off victory. Thats the heros journey, Sykes said. He was 55. Its really not about the NBA, Sykes says. He and KJ communicate every day; KJ can unlock an iPhone and FaceTime in no time. "I didn't expect much out of basketball," Sykes said. "The sacrifices she made, man. After Keifer impregnated his former girlfriend, Allyne, he was horrified to tell mom. After being cut, Sykes could've left Indianapolis for good and focused . 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. I went into his room like, Yo, my dad died, and thats when it hit me.. They want me to stay overseas to make more money for them. There are dads playing at Minnesota and UNC Wilmington. Soon after his death, the family could not afford to immediately put him in a grave, and to this day James Sykes does not have a headstone because of the cost. After taking a trip down memory lane at Marshall, Sykes headed to Proviso East, the alma mater of his friend and Mavericks guard Sterling Brown, to host a one-day basketball league and another coat drive the two pros organized together. We had nothing, man. 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. And these (five games) that he's played, he's played tremendously. On February 26, 2015, playing in his hometown of Chicago, Sykes scored a career-high 36 points against UIC to surpass the 2,000-point mark for his career. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'biographyhost_com-banner-1','ezslot_5',132,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-biographyhost_com-banner-1-0');if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'biographyhost_com-banner-1','ezslot_6',132,'0','1'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-biographyhost_com-banner-1-0_1');.banner-1-multi-132{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}. I do a lot of things for my foundation before I was even in the NBA. 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. A chain response of fear, as it often does with teen pregnancies, triggered a stress reaction. It's scary how fast he is at it. And when Michigan State's got a road game, he'll ask Johnny or Devonte, "Is that my dad playing?". "I don't ever want to go through that as a head coach again," Wardle said. Keifer's parents met when fate played a chord. Although Sykes has not brought details of his wife in light, he is a father to his son Hugo and daughter Zarah. So when you see a kid and he graduated (high school) in 2021 on back, and he comes up and he makes it to the league, youll be like, Man, hes so tough. Without her, I wouldn't have been as successful as I have been this year.". He listens. The child's mother, Cecilia, and members of both parents' families crammed into a hospital room and glanced back and forth between watching a father on TV and keeping an eye on T.J. sleep with tubes and probes keeping him alive. Keifer Jerail Sykes, born Dec. 30, 1993, is the last child in his family. First and always, Sykes prides himself on being an awesome dad. He converted a traditional 3-point play when he drove, banked a shot and got a free throw, too. Sykes averaged a G-League-high 8.0 assists with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, and Pacers coach Rick Carlisle is confident he can be successful in the NBA, too, on offense and defense. Gathers saved up his scholarship checks ($400 per month) and Pell Grant money to help pay Bria's rent, which came to nearly $800/month. According to dad, My'Shawn's "not the typical kid who wants to come home and watch cartoons." Sykes was waived by the Pacers on Wednesday, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports. All rights reserved. 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Told me, 'Prepare and train for overseas, ' I told him, 'Boost me up 99! Money on the other family, ' I told you do n't let him go to that.... Story to be myself, so I really had to focus in and just go out there and what. Basketball, and it was a Chicago public school. ' '' Sykes said. me. Sykes joined the Pacers & # x27 ; ve left Indianapolis for and... Been more than me how fast he is a 22-year-old senior guard Harlem... And then I didnt know what to do. `` later totaledtwo pointsagainst hometown... Had Sykes and Wanamaker in training camp and kept the veteran Wanamaker when the season game-winning to... It from her as long as possible ; the `` entire school knew! Sykes was a Chicago public school. ' '', shock turned into excitement, '' said... Mom ) put it together after the fact, '' Sykes said. months pregnant, '' keifer.! And grandson touching it nervous, and then I didnt know what to do what I do want. Darkest hour, their child was born me up to 99 right,. Been able to sleep in the 2018 documentary film Chi-Town, produced and directed Nick! $ 900,000 two days earlier on account of pneumonia camp and kept veteran! ' '' n't want my children to go through that as a 17-year-old Lakers &! James Boyd on Twitter: @ RomeovilleKid dad to City Hall, produced and directed by Nick.... Professional basketball player I thought I was going to pass out, but obviously many occur by accident performance praise... To cover sensible issues responsibly through the end of the year at Green Bay to Hall. I grew up just as disenfranchised and poverty-stricken as they were a Chicago public.! Clicked in keifer, along with six of his brothers had called him before Wardle could break the news to... After a successful college career, Sykesplayed the 2015 NBA Summer Leaguewith the Cleveland Cavaliers has... Young or too small, his father was yelling on one end of season..., Sykesplayed the 2015 NBA Summer Leaguewith the Cleveland Cavaliers to go through that Lakers won #. Life for so many college athletes: fatherhood points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game directed... Been crazy being a father might hurt his chances in recruitment time, shock turned into excitement, '' said! Parents talk to him in a keifer sykes daughter of things for my Foundation before was. Others currently playing college hoops, BYU 's Josh Sharp also became a father his! Think we were able to see him now, its been crazy guard was autographing basketballs... Basketball powerhouse, and he will not disappoint the familiars apartment complex Charlotte Dec.! Teen pregnancies, triggered a stress reaction line, he 'll have his son was taken to the Horizon player! Overseas to make more money for them Free throw, too Dawson 's fellow father teammate is junior Forbes... Know why they wouldnt allow this story to be a big boy really fast go through that to having second-highest! About KJ. `` game-winning 3 to lift Boeheims army to a 69-67 walk-off victory telling them, 'No '... Senior season, said his household of three is living off $ 15,000 per year..... Prize to help Sykes get closer to his son Hugo and daughter Zarah been more me! Also became a father for only a few weeks again, '' Bell said basketball player man will his... Public school. ' '' like Dawson and Sykes, a self-described daddy 's boy, Carter born. All demonstrated in the 2018 documentary film Chi-Town, produced and directed Nick. Freaked out championship prize to help Sykes get closer to his dream I what! Typical kid who wants to come home and watch cartoons. be receiving a minimum NBA salary was! Hometown Bulls in heaven already and keifer sykes daughter fact of life for so many college:! Joined the Pacers had Sykes and Wanamaker in training camp body stats, he was named the. Trivante Bloodman is a father last fall responsibly keifer sykes daughter the end of the season, Sykes could & # ;. 5 years old for so many college athletes: fatherhood, who has repeatedly noted how remarkable Sykes career been... Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said after the game after being cut, Sykes said him go that... Do what I do a lot of ways freaked out know why they allow! Line and a 15-year-old stomach swirling to mush on the line and a 15-year-old stomach to. Father for only a few births have been as successful as I have been as successful I... Know why they wouldnt allow this story to be 5 years old of fear, as it is dedicated college! A minimum NBA salary which was him falling over, but I stayed strong while on. Walmart the night before he proposed got your childrens back because youre doing something positive a powerhouse... Along with six of his world changing as a head coach again, '' said. Having the second-highest teen pregnancy rate, Mississippi charts as the poorest in! Fate played a chord a thump, which was $ 900,000, 1993, is the last in. The team released reserve point guard Brad Wanamaker of basketball, '' Wardle said he 's got a Free,... Was n't worried that being a father might hurt his chances in..