MOORE — Cole Aldrich had his hands full Thursday afternoon. The 6-11, 250-pound Oklahoma City Thunder center was matched up against a group of players who showed no mercy on the rookie.
Aldrich wasn’t in Las Vegas with Thunder teammates Kevin Durant and Jeff Green trying out for the national team. He was here in Norman at the Whittier Recreation Center taking part in the Thunder’s skills camp for kids age 5 to 16. Anyway, he put in a workout.
“I had a few of them boxing out like Shaq would,” Aldrich said. “It’s just so fun. As little kids, they look up to us a lot. So to kind of give back to the community is a blast.”
Aldrich was selected with the 11th overall pick by the New Orleans Hornets and traded to Oklahoma City immediately for the Thunder’s No. 21 and 26 selections. Yet, because no trade could become official until July 8, when the new salary cap was in place, Aldrich could not play summer league ball with his new teammates.
As a result, the skills camp at Whittier was one of his very first appearances on behalf of his new employer.
“To me, this is my favorite type of thing to give back to the community because the little kids are our future,” Aldrich said. “I was a little kid, maybe a little taller than these guys. But just being out here, having a guy that played basketball for so long to come out and teach then some small things and just have fun, it really means a lot to the kids.”
Since arriving in Oklahoma, the Thunder have done more than build a winning basketball team. They have been heavily involved in reaching out to the fans in communities around the state. Holding youth basketball camps is just one of the ways they hope to connect with their public.
“We have 67 kids at this camp this week and our goal is to make them better basketball players,” Thunder director of youth basketball Tyler Blackwell said. “We really want to reach outside of the Oklahoma City area and get out to surrounding communities like Moore and Norman.”
Becoming entrenched in the community is right up Aldrich’s alley. During his days at Kansas, the 22-year old was a regular on the community relations circuit. So when he was asked to sign T-shirts, teach kids the art of blocking out for rebounds or just swatting 9-year-olds’ shots off the court, he was right at home.
“I came from a great program at Kansas,” Aldrich said. “We did a ton of community stuff. And just having the same type of fan base we had back in college is really remarkable. To me, as a person, it’s just great to give back to the community because they give us so much as fans.”
While Aldrich enjoys meeting his new fan base, he has also been getting ready for the upcoming 2010-11 season. He knows he’s joining a squad high expectations after losing to the eventual NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs in a hard-fought six-game series.
“We have a really young team,” Aldrich said. “I think every year, as a team, whether you are a real good team like us, or your a team in the middle of the pack, you always want to have that goal of winning in the finals. That’s always the goal, but not an easy one, by any means. Only one team is going to be happy at the end of the season. All you can do is work your butts off and just try for it as hard as you can.”
But the message Aldrich had for the kids at the skills camp wasn’t about winning an NBA title or making millions in the league. He wanted them to know that he was in the same position they’re at now when he was their age, looking up to NBA players like Kevin Garnett.
“I started playing in fourth grade,” Aldrich told the campers. “And I guarantee the littlest kid in here had more talent than me. I just fell in love with the game. I wasn’t very good, but I kept on playing. I just worked really hard to become the player I am now.”
Michael Kinney 366-3537 mkinney@mooreamerican.com
