Carlos Boozer’s coming home.
Juneau’s renowned basketball son is hosting the Carlos Boozer Basketball Camp for five days at the Juneau-Douglas High School main gym, July 31-Aug. 4.
It’s been seven years since Boozer last run a camp in Juneau. He assured he visits most every year, though. Last May, he attended the JDHS boys’ basketball awards banquet that celebrated the team’s state championship season. It sparked his interest in reinstating the camp.
“Listen, I’m 35, and most of those kids to them I’m like a fairy tale like I never really existed because they never really seen me before, because I usually sneak into town,” Boozer said. “That was one of those moments that made it even more emphasized how much I missed being home, being in the basketball community in Juneau.”
Boozer’s camp arrives on the tail end of his own professional basketball career. He last played in the NBA three years ago on the Los Angeles Lakers. Last season he played in the Chinese Basketball Association.
Boozer’s accomplishments include an NCAA national championship, an Olympic Gold Medal and scores of NBA wins. He’s thrived under two Hall of Fame coaches: Mike Krzyzweski and Jerry Sloan. Krzyzweski had a hand in both Boozer’s NCAA championship with Duke University and Gold Medal in Bejing as the head coach of Team USA.
He noted though it was the people of Juneau who first got him on the right track.
“I’ve been very fortunate to have a great group of people that have supported me along my path,” Boozer said. “And for me, it started in Juneau, whether me and my dad wanted to go out to shoot outside or get in the high school to get up some extra shots, Coach Houston would open the door for us. Or if I needed one of my friends to come rebound for me, they would come rebound for me.”
The camp is for boys and girls ages 5-18 and costs $150. All campers will receive a T-shirt and daily prizes will be handed out.
A portion of the camp proceeds will go toward sickle cell disease research. Boozer’s oldest son, Carmani, was stricken with the disease before he was cured through a bone marrow transplant.
“I’m in a place in my life right now where I have a little more stability and where I can go back to Alaska every year, do my camp the way I want to do it, have fun, make sure the kids get two things: a great experience number one … and then they can learn great things about the game of basketball that I didn’t even learn until I was more older in life and playing in the NBA,” he said.
Those interested can sign up for the camp at CarlosBoozerBasketballCamp.com.
