He kept it from her as long as possible; the "entire school" knew about it, but she didn't. 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.. He later joined the University of Wisconsin in Green Bay on a basketball scholarship. Like Sykes, he's a senior NBA prospect. The Pacers had Sykes and Wanamaker in training camp and kept the veteran Wanamaker when the season began. I'm still frustrated we lost, but now I'm like, that's over with. of the Basketball Super League. It was tough, but I knew that might be a part of my journey with me being at a mid-major, Sykes said. "One time I asked him, and he didn't know. Just being able to see him now, its been crazy. But that's what it takes to be a superhero for my family, a superhero in my community and a good basketball player. So I want to be thatvoice for them, and I'm happy to be in this position.". His daughter Zarah has just turned six years old on 22 September 2021. He always had a way with kids, even when he was one. James Sykes, a former vice president of the Broadway Armory Park association, is buried at Memorial Gardens in Homewood, Illinois. "At first there was a lot of fear. These are the guys helping Dawson, watching the little one when he's away, driving My'Shawn to and from pre-K school sessions. My brother calls me and gives me the news, literally out of my sleep. He quickly capitalized on his opportunity. Because even as a mom you dont expect your children to praise you like that. I was sleeping, Sykes said. [27], On December 8, 2020, Sykes signed a one-year contract with the South East Melbourne Phoenix of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). 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. You go to South Korea and thats a whole different culture, Sykes said. 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. Life is too short. "It's not easy, for me, but the best thing I have going on for me right now is my wife," Gathers said. , Im not forgetting these things. There's more to life than basketball. The sacrifices she made, man. [30], On December 27, 2021, Sykes signed with the Indiana Pacers for the remainder of the season. He'll want to turn to ESPN and watch a basketball game. Green Bay's Henry Uwadiae, a 6-foot-11 Nigerian-born sophomore, had a daughter born last summer. And now, when he's not escaping for trips to be with dad at Green Bay, KJ practically lives with his grandmother. 10:51am: The Pacers intend to waive guard Brad Wanamaker and sign another guard, Keifer Sykes, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). The plan is for mother and child to pack up and go with. [29] He was waived at the end of training camp. You can go D-I. These were things that I had doubts of. All rights reserved. However, he regularlymentions his children during interviewsand posts pictures of them on his social media handles. 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. He didn't sleep through the night, and in the darkest hour, their child was born. The ones, even in his inner circle, who repeatedly toldhim he'd never make it to the NBA. 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. Upon returning to Marshall whose alumni includes "Hoop Dreams" documentary star Arthur Agee, Timberwolves guard Patrick Beverly and two-time WNBA champion Cappie Pondexter Sykes gifted his former coaches and teachers a Pacers jersey as a thank you for believing in him and laying the foundation for his path to the NBA. 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. Moreover, Sykes graduated from there with a degree in Communications. We've had them come in as a group and have my wife talking about child-rearing. Milwaukee Bucks (22-9, first in the Eastern . He posted a picture carrying her and wrote a beautiful heartfelt message. Though each situation is different, if there was one player whose circumstances most resembled Sykes', it's Dawson's. He later joined the San Antonio Spurs on 28 September 2015. 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. Supported by his mother, Keifer Sykes finally saw his lifelong dream come to fruition last year. However, they waived him on 21 October of the same year, after three preseason games. That's the thing. After a game, win or lose, I walk up to him and he's just laughing. 1 seed and took them to Game 5, which is like Game 7 over there, and lost on their floor," Sykes said. " 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. We put in all that work, and they didn't pay us. Sykes, Dawson and Gathers all have teammates who are dads. Sykes joined Indianas G League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, and clawed his way back to the Pacers, who eventually signed him to a guaranteed deal for the rest of the 2021-22 season. Buchanan, who leads URI in assists, played in Tuesday night's game against the Flyers, a vital one for Rhode Island's NCAA tourney at-large chances. I gowith different guys. 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. If anything, Sykes being a dad was a positive. I was an All-Star, we won the regular-season (league) title and postseason title, but over there its so cutthroat, Sykes said. 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. I can't wait to see her and hug her.". We had guys on our team trying to feed their kids fast food. 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. Yet, Forbes in 2019 evaluated that he must be receiving a minimum NBA salary which was $900,000. We were all riding every possession and rooting for him, high-fiving each other whenever he dropped in another 3, Mitchell said. He is at Green Bay because that staff impressed his father. Sykes keeps in touch with all of them but he hasn't seen Kristie and Antawn in years. I thought I was going to pass out, but I stayed strong. You'd be amazed at what these guys don't know about parenting. As apro-basketball player, Sykes weighs around 175 pounds and stands at theheightof 5 feet 11 inches. 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 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. 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]. "I tell them I grew up just as disenfranchised and poverty-stricken as they were. "This is not the time for that," Cassandra Dawson told her son, thinking he was kidding. Now, after seldomly getting to see his him early in his college years, Dawson's senior season has been a change for the happier. 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. They want me to stay overseas to make more money for them. 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.. And I think we were able to give him that. Perfect place for an unforgettable night in a tiny, half-filled gym, Illinois-Chicago's UIC Pavilion. 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. I didn't want my children to go through that. 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. 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. August 5, 2020. However,Sykeswas quickly thrust into the spotlight because of a COVID-19 outbreak within the team that sent Brogdon and Caris LeVert, who had been filling inas the team's starting point guard, into the league's health and safety protocols. I told them, 'Don't have any babies. 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. "As soon as I could see her a little bit, I was really protective of her, just because she's so innocent and so helpless," Johnson said. Sykes estimated he's trekked it back and forth about 20 times per season over the past four years. Free schooling.". Its all demonstrated in the documentary, Carlisle said after the game. They say, 'You don't know what it's like to be on food stamps,' and I say, 'I've been through it.'". She thought he had dropped something or whatever. 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