"It's not easy," Sykes said of juggling fatherhood with basketball and an impending graduation. 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. Like Sykes, Dawson's been a father since he was a junior in high school. NBA News. "So she just told me congratulations. I could never do that. Until now, Sykes has never told the story of how he became a father, what the birth was like, the angst he went through and how scared and shocked he was by the process. 6-keys: media/spln/collegebasketball/reg/free/stories, at Sykes confirmed that another documentary about his life is on the way, and itll include another milestone from his first NBA season: A jersey swap with his former high school and college teammate, Alfonzo McKinnie (a distant cousin of the aforementioned Rashad McKinnie). If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. Keifer Sykes, Indiana Pacers As a small guard playing in a big city, Sykes was consistently underappreciated and underranked. With Keifer Sykes. "Because if dont nobody else deserve it, Keifer deserves it., Sykes has totaled 33 games in his NBA career, 10 of which he didnt play in. Some of the scenarios are not ideal. Lisa runs an out-of-home daycare operation. They're cautionary stories but uplifting ones, too. 'You don't know who this is?'". "I can't wait to get the list of all the players they had ranked ahead of me. The Pacers' Keifer Sykes.AP Thats my dream, but I know the odds of going to the NBA, so Ill just use basketball to get as far as I can.. I wanted to wait a few days," Bell said. Hows your team doing? he asked another. However, no valid sources have yet revealed his annual pay in numbers. 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. 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. Sykes' son represents an overlooked and under-discussed fact of life for so many college athletes: fatherhood. Chicago. Keifer Jerail Sykes (born December 30, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Motor City Cruise of the NBA G League. Another team lost a player in the middle of the night, without warning, because he was given an ultimatum by the child's mother. So I went into my roommates room, and I just woke him up and just said it to him and just got to breaking down crazy. Like Buchanan, and others currently playing college hoops, BYU's Josh Sharp also became a father last fall. The 5-foot-11 guard signed a training camp deal with the Pacers but was waived before the start of the 2021-22 campaign. "I immediately fell in love with her.". 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. The coaching staff awoke to find out the player was more than a thousand miles away and quit the team without telling anyone. Sykes, who these days has NBA scouts frequently traveling to gelid Green Bay, has previously bypassed chances to turn pro early in Europe. Sykes studied at Marshall High School, where he started playing basketball. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but Brogdon will never forget his introduction to Sykes. His son, My'Shawn, was born March 30, 2010. How long has it been since Dawson spoke to his dad directly? The only thing thats changed lately is his platform. Aubrey was born at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24. Sykes, a Chicago native who starred at Marshall High School, was twice named the Horizon LeaguePlayer of the Year at Wisconsin-Green Bay but went undrafted in 2015. [4], From his freshman year in 201112, Sykes was immediately inserted into the Phoenix starting lineup, and was also the youngest player in the nation, let alone youngest starter. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. 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. Lisa was there with her cancer-stricken mother; James was there tending to his niece after she'd been assaulted in a domestic dispute. "You can hear him in the stands. Im not entitled to anything, and Im still working. He later joined the University of Wisconsin in Green Bay on a basketball scholarship. Memphis also had a player, Dominic Magee, who initially transferred out of school earlier this season to be closer to his home in New Orleans to be with his young son. Neither player entered the game, and McKinnie has since been waived, but that night McKinnie was just proud to exchange matching No. 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. Sykes signed with Scandone Avellino of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A on August 7, 2018.[21]. From there, Sykes bounced around the fringes of the NBA, joining the Cavaliers for the 2015 Summer League, then signing with San Antonio his father's favorite team and appearing in three 2015-16 preseason games, before being waived and picked up by the Spurs D League (now G League) affiliate, the Austin Spurs. "I don't want to go out of the States. Once my brother left, I went to school by myself. He later joined the San Antonio Spurs on 28 September 2015. She lives more than 250 miles away, in Iowa, with her mother. "Little KJ is very outspoken, loud, and a joy to be around," Lisa Sykes said. I gowith different guys. 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]. It's a dimension some critics didn't realize when they were all too eager to bemoan Dawson's performance in MSU's loss last Sunday at Wisconsin, wherein Dawson had four points and two rebounds. Come August, Keifer will be three months removed from college. So whatever dreams they had, she backed them, which is why when Keifer Sykes fathered his son, Keifer Jr., at 16 and daughter, Kennedi, at 21, she volunteered to help take care of them while Sykes went to college at Wisconsin-Green Bay and continued his career overseas always chasing his ultimate goal of playing in the NBA. [7] Sykes and 7ft 1in (2.16m) standout player Alec Brown led the Phoenix to a 245 regular season record and finished first in the Horizon League. Though each situation is different, if there was one player whose circumstances most resembled Sykes', it's Dawson's. The shoes were squeaking, the coaches were yelling and the kids were smiling. 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. [27], On December 8, 2020, Sykes signed a one-year contract with the South East Melbourne Phoenix of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). We see him as one our guys, even though we only played a small part in his rise and elevation. A tremendous man," Wardle said. We had nothing, man. It made my heart weep in joy, not weep in sorrow but in joy that, Wow, he really feels that way about me.. Sykes keeps in touch with all of them but he hasn't seen Kristie and Antawn in years. As of 2021, he is representing Fort Wayne Mad Ants, a professional basketball team of Indiana. Another is dealing with a touch-and-go situation in regard to an abortion decision. Gathers' teammate, Al Freeman? Weve actually talked about (that game) once or twice, and I brought it up just to see if he remembered it, Brogdon said. They say, 'You don't know what it's like to be on food stamps,' and I say, 'I've been through it.'". [22] The film follows Sykes' path from high school to his brush with the NBA. I went to basketball for free college. I was at the back and people didnt believe in me, but my dad always believed in me and always affirmed me.. Sykes said having his contract guaranteed through the end of theseason is "the highlight of my professional career," and he's thrilled that his 6-year-old daughter, Kennedi, and11-year-old son, Keifer Jr., can finally say their daddy is officially in the NBA. At the time of Sykes' recruitment, Wardle (his coach), who became a dad at 26, could empathize. The player is now back at school, away from his child, but not on the team. 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. He always had a way with kids, even when he was one. 10:51am: The Pacers intend to waive guard Brad Wanamaker and sign another guard, Keifer Sykes, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). [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. 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. Reach him via email: [email protected]. Ithink the basket was moving. One thing Lisa Sykes made sure to add is, while her son shined the spotlight squarely on her, she didnt raise him alone. 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. "I don't ever want to go through that as a head coach again," Wardle said. He did not sleep overnight. How much does Keifer Sykes weigh? 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. The season included an upset over eventual Atlantic Coast Conference regular season champion (and NCAA tournament 1-seed) Virginia in a game which saw Sykes score 21 points and distribute 10 assists. Buchanan III is expected to stay in the hospital until at least this coming Sunday as the scar on his heart slowly starts to heal. Keifer Sykes would have used his share of the $2 million championship prize to help his Free 10 Foundation and his church. WATCH: Dog makes mess at Louisville halftime show, Updates: Four conference tournaments in action Tuesday, Bracketology: Boise State boosts its standing, Alabama vs. Auburn odds, picks, prediction, bets, Top 25 And 1: Bill Self continues to cement legacy, Court Report: Strange resumes, best turnarounds, Nate Oats says Bama players explained pat-down, March Madness starts with game-winner at buzzer, AP Top 25: Marquette moves up; UK back in rankings, Legendary former Virginia coach Terry Holland dies. Keifer Jerail Sykes, born Dec. 30, 1993, is the last child in his family. Former South East Melbourne Phoenix import Keifer Sykes has enjoyed a stunning rise with the Indiana Pacers, starting at point guard in their 129-121 loss to Brooklyn Nets on Thursday (AEDT) after seven years playing around the world and in the NBA G-League. 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. See, the basketball part, thats easy. I do a lot of camps (in my hometown). 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. KJ wasn't even 2 when his grandfather died. He remembers hopping into a car after getting that call, riding with the aunt of My'Shawn's mother, a 10-minute drive to Methodist Hospital. The diminutive guard, who's averaging 5.7 points per game, said he never gets discouraged, though, because hes learned that nothing is guaranteed while hes on his heros journey.. I do a lot of things for my foundation before I was even in the NBA. . Because a lot of people dont even know the half of what it took for me to be here. Bell found out he was going to be a father when he returned to his phone following a workout. That wasn't the case with a 7-footer at Louisiana Tech named Joniah White. 1:08; See All. He listens. They last shared space together in 2012 -- at Keifer's father's funeral. [5], As a sophomore, Sykes increased his production to 15.9 points and 4.3 assists per game and led the Phoenix to the 2013 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. He converted a traditional 3-point play when he drove, banked a shot and got a free throw, too. I couldnt believe it.. He and KJ communicate every day; KJ can unlock an iPhone and FaceTime in no time. "Over time, shock turned into excitement," White said of his world changing as a 17-year-old. 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. You scope college basketball, and the stories are everywhere. Learn How rich is He in this year and how He spends money? Hes gonna have the film footage, and its the continuation of truly one of the amazing stories in sport.. I didn't have my phone. Some schools turned down interview requests. [10] For the second time in his career, he was named to the Honorable Mention AP All-American team. In that week, Sykes averaged 28.7 points, five rebounds, and four assists per game while shooting 53.6% from the field, 50% from three, and leading the Phoenix to a 30 record. This summer, there was a murder near the house where Keifer Jr. lives with. "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.. Sykes, a former point guard for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, sunk a pull-up three to give Boeheim's Army a 69-67 win over Team 23 in Tuesday's TBT championship. They think, 'that's what I eat, so that's what the baby should eat.' The sacrifices she made, man. 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. You can practically hear the smile through the phone as Gathers, who was wearing scrubs that didn't fit his 6-8, 275-pound frame, tells the story. One night, when a super . Breakups, forced relationships, long-distance relationships, fractures between families, money -- these are stresses that, comparatively, make basketball seem so simple. "Just because we're in college athletics, we try to separate ourselves from the rest of the society, and we just can't do that," Ray said. "It's always been this way, really, but off the record, it's demographics, number one, and popularity of basketball players today," one coach said. A lot people were just calling me a scorer, so when they presented me the opportunity to run the team, be a point guard and show that I could help run the organization and prove that I could win, I was excited. Like Sykes, he opted not to turn pro early despite having a child to feed. Keifer Sykes plays professional basketball in Turkey, not Los Angeles or New York. Simple things, like sleeping patterns. Sykes credits his humbleness to his parents, James and Lisa Sykes, who were featured in a documentary about Sykes rise to high school and college stardom called, Chi-Town. The film shows the harrowing circumstances that he and his family were subjected to in inner-city Chicago, including rampant gun violence, which left one of Sykes' former high school teammates and a former coach paralyzed, while another former teammate went to prison for armed robbery. He worries about his 4-year-old son, Keifer Jr., who lives in a neighborhood in Chicago that Sykes knows is violent. Due to his success, he was invited to the 2016 NBA D-League Elite Camp. While Sykes soaked in the action, more youngsters filed into the gym and for nearly all of them Sykes had a greeting, Whats up, killa? he asked one kid. At the time I didnt know that, but he was affirming my greatness. Sykes, Dawson and Gathers all have teammates who are dads. He has just one full sibling, James Sykes Jr., and seven more half-siblings: DaVon, Jarvis, Kristie, Jameeka,. Lisa Sykes said she cried nonstop when she initially saw the video, and she cried again while sitting in a back room at Proviso East with Keifer across the hall speaking to dozens of children she had just handed pizza to. 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. They have a hierarchy. . Some of them terrifying, like the hell and stress Rhode Island's T.J. Buchanan has endured all season. 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. His daughter Zarah has just turned six years old on 22 September 2021. [19], In the summer of 2016, Sykes joined the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Summer League. 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.. In high school, Sykes would ride alone on the green line to Marshall Metro High -- the team featured in the beloved basketball documentaryHoop Dreams-- where he played his way onto varsity and would become a McDonald's All-American honorable mention. When I first committed, I didn't know where basketball would take me. "That was the hardest part, telling her, and the first thing she said was, 'She's going to be cute.'". "My son played (NBA 2K) last night with me. "The milk is spilt all over the place," she recalled saying. From grade school to now, I really paid the cost. Sykes mother called Keifer to tell him what happened, and when she couldnt reach him, she called his college coach Brian Wardle. Almost every player interviewed for this story was scared to tell mom. I shot that wing 3 against the Bulls,I air-balled. The former University of Wisconsin-Green Bay star . 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. "I can finally say I made it," Sykes said. Both anticipated that their contracts would be guaranteed through the end of the seasonFriday, and McKinnie was retained, too. Because even as a mom you dont expect your children to praise you like that. 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. Four-year starter Gary Bell Jr. hopes to have his son, Gary Bell III, in the stands come the first weekend of theNCAA Tournamentin Seattle or Portland. A chain response of fear, as it often does with teen pregnancies, triggered a stress reaction. It's a boy, and they're down to two names with two months to go. At the start of the 201314 season, Sykes was named to the preseason All-Horizon League team and was a nominee for the Bob Cousy Award for top point guard in the country. We come from poverty. "I didn't expect much out of basketball," Sykes said. One team has a player with two children born from two women three months apart. "We were a stage for him to perform on. The Pacers waived third-string point guard Brad Wanamaker after his poor playand picked up Sykes mainly as an insurance guard since starting point guard Malcolm Brogdon was sidelined with a sore right Achilles and backup point guard T.J. McConnell is out due to right wrist surgery. Sykes estimated he's trekked it back and forth about 20 times per season over the past four years. At one point, a boy asked the Indiana Pacers guard to follow him on Instagram. There are dads playing at Minnesota and UNC Wilmington. We put in all that work, and they didn't pay us. 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.". At the time KJ was born Keifer was holding down a job with the Chicago Public Schools system, playing basketball and working rec centers with kids on the east side. You can go D-I. These were things that I had doubts of. Former Pacers guard Keifer Sykes, center, hosts a free youth camp at the Irsay Family YMCA in Indianapolis on April 30, 2022. CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. Commissioner.com is a registered trademark of CBS Interactive Inc. site: media | arena: collegebasketball | pageType: stories | Keifer Sykes was born on 30 December, 1993 in Chicago, Illinois, United States, is an American basketball player. Dawson's first two years at Michigan State consisted of few visits with My'Shawn during the season. The former Indiana Pacers point guard prefers a low-key personal life. Sykes grew up on southeast side of Chicago, on East 67th Street and South Cregier, in a project apartment complex. 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.". Keifer said that conversation will probably come in the next year or so. It's about mom just as much as dad. Every situation is different. KJ will look up to his dad. Sykes had nearly 100 ticket requests for this game, and he will not disappoint the familiars. [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. Keifer Sykes was born on December 30, 1993. Sykes has seen his role grow over the years, shouldering more and more of the offensive workload for Green Bay, while rounding himself into a dynamic offensive option. The Italian Lega Basket Serie a on August 7, 2018. [ 21 ] without telling.. Perform on even though we only played a small guard playing in big..., there was a murder near the house where keifer Jr. lives with in 2012 at. Sykes would have used his share of the amazing stories in sport I air-balled to. 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