Don't bite the shoe that feeds you.
Or something to that effect.
That's what Carlos Boozer - junior and senior - told an audience of about 100 people who gathered at the Juneau Airport to hear him speak on Wednesday during the Juneau Rotary Club's luncheon.
The Boozers said that, as much as they love Juneau, they felt it was important to announce Carlos Jr.'s college decision at the adidas-sponsored Magic Johnson Roundball Charity Classic in Detroit because the sports-apparel manufacturer has done so much for him.
"If Carlos (junior) had just stayed in Juneau and played school he might not have had an opportunity to play at a Division I school," Carlos Sr. said before introducing his son.
On his pocketbook alone, there's a great likelihood that would have happened, Carlos Sr. chuckled.
But he said the Adidas-sponsored Elite Basketball Organization - the AAU summer team Boozer played for - made it possible for Carlos Jr. to travel the country, and even the world, playing against the top level of basketball talent.
"Darren Matsubara (EBO coach) took Carlos all over the place," Carlos Sr. said. "He had to give something back to adidas. Carlos said, `I'm going to make Alaska proud, and I'm going to stand up and tell adidas thank you.'±"
Carlos Sr. also announced that he's trying to get a local AAU team started, and asked the crowd to donate funds, big or small, to help him achieve that goal.
"We have a lot of kids in high school right now," Carlos Sr. said, using James Wilson, Christian Carpeneti and others as example. "If they had the opportunities that Carlos had, probably every last one would go Division I. I want to help some of the best talent in Alaska to get seen."
Right now, Carlos Sr. said, all of the funds for uniforms and travel must be raised locally. Adidas said it would kick in support when the team has a Division I player.
"I know they'll be Division I when they get seen," Carlos Sr. said.
He then introduced his son, Carlos Jr., though everyone in the house already knew who he was. After a magnificent high school career, which included two consecutive Player of the Year awards, two consecutive Parade All-America nominations - including a first team this year - and a McDonald's All-America nomination, Boozer announced about a month ago that he had chosen to play ball and study this fall at Duke University.
"I thought I had to give back to adidas," Carlos Jr. reiterated. "I thought me going to Detroit to make the announcement was the right thing to go."
The crowd then peppered Boozer with questions, which he fielded as smoothly as one of his end-to-end rushes.
Why Duke?
"They have a great coach in Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski). I want to be under his tutelage," Boozer said. "I think I can become pretty good."
Does he have any sort of commitment to Duke?
"I told Coach K if I wasn't a top 10 pick, I wouldn't leave (for the NBA pro draft) for the first two years," Boozer said.
Where does he get his level-headedness?
"My mom and dad right next to me," he said of Carlos Sr. and his mom, Renee, noting they forced him to study first and play basketball second - thus his 3.8 GPA. "In my household, if you don't have academics, you don't have anything. Playing ball was kind of a reward for getting good grades."
Would he still have gone to Duke had he known center Elton Brand and guard William Avery were leaving to the NBA?
"I think so," Boozer said after contemplating the question for a moment. "The decision I made wasn't just whether or not they stayed. Brand, to play against him would have been a great honor, Avery too. But that gives a lot of us (new recruits) a chance to play and start even. I think regardless I would have gone to Duke."
After he spoke, the crowd gave Boozer a rousing standing ovation.
The first of many, to be sure.
