It's nothing else but about KJ.". I was charging it. 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. "I walk in the door, my parents are sitting at the table. He has just one full sibling, James Sykes Jr., and seven more half-siblings: DaVon, Jarvis, Kristie, Jameeka,. Its not even that I did it (on my own). Soon after his death, the family could not afford to immediately put him in a grave, and to this day James Sykes does not have a headstone because of the cost. But in true Sykes fashion, he blocked out the naysayers and helped the Phoenix make the playoffs, finishing fourth in the 10-team league before being knocked out in the final four. Even when I got here, (Boucek) just following me on Instagram and Twitter, and telling me alwaysto continue to chip away at it.". However, he regularlymentions his children during interviewsand posts pictures of them on his social media handles. Sykes was waived by the Pacers on Wednesday, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports. 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. From grade school to now, I really paid the cost. 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. The first words out of his mouth are eerily foreshadowing. At Marshall, we were a basketball powerhouse, and it was a Chicago public school. [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. Sykes was the undersized and underprivileged kid who was supposed to be swallowed up by the inner city, broken after his fathers death and discouraged by the countless doubters who told him reaching the NBA was a pipe dream. See, the basketball part, thats easy. He was even more so on a mission than he was before.. When was Keifer Sykes born? Five and a half years later, James and Lisa Sykes married, on April 27, 1999. Go to college, live your life. Also learn how He earned most of networth at the age of 27 years old? [19], In the summer of 2016, Sykes joined the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Summer League. 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. A family of seven crammed into a two-bedroom place, where they lived until Sykes got to high school. Gathers, who's likely to return for his senior season, said his household of three is living off $15,000 per year. Bell found out he was going to be a father when he returned to his phone following a workout. On August 3, 2019, Sykes signed with the Guangzhou Loong Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association. Afterward, he takes dozens of pictures and shakes the hands of nearly 200 people, plenty of whom he does not know. It's been an emotional journey for Freeman, who went out and bought a few pregnancy tests last summer, and then cried and hugged Kylee as they discovered they'd be parents. He's going beyond the expectations of being there for his son. Despite those hurdles, there Sykes was, still standing years later and using his day off before his first major NBA road trip to inspire the next generation. After shining with the Austin Spurs throughout the 2015-16 campaign, Sykes joined the Warriors for the 2016 Summer League, but he wasnt picked up by Golden State or another franchise ahead of the season. 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. I gowith different guys. Keifer Sykes scanned the gym at Proviso East High School in Maywood, Illinois, watching as grade school children ran around playing basketball the game that's taken him around the world but. Every year he's gotten better at balancing and understanding that. ", James Sykes died of heart failure on June 6, 2012. August 5, 2020. Rhode Island and Nevada. He and KJ communicate every day; KJ can unlock an iPhone and FaceTime in no time. "We felt defeated," he said. , Im not forgetting these things. I wanted to wait a few days," Bell said. When I was like, Oh, Im small, he was like, Nah, you can go to the NBA. These are really childhood dreams we turned into reality for real, and I think thats the most exciting part. 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.". Mississippi State's Rick Ray is a coach with a lot of thoughts on this because he has a lot of players -- five of them -- in this situation. 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. So she was downstairs cooking, and their room was upstairs, so when she went upstairs, that's when she saw that he was passed out. The next day, Bloodman played 18 minutes against Kentucky. in the Turkish TBL, posting 22.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. They last shared space together in 2012 -- at Keifer's father's funeral. "I wasn't trying to map out a strategy to go pro. With Keifer Sykes. I couldnt believe it.. Keifer's parents met when fate played a chord. Doctors had to wait until the baby boy was just a little bit bigger, a little bit heavier, and a little bit older before they cut into his chest and sewed up the hole in his heart. Bell's boy already loves basketball. According to dad, My'Shawn's "not the typical kid who wants to come home and watch cartoons." In high school. On Dec. 7, 2013, Wisconsin Green-Bay hosted and upset Virginia behind a stellar performance from Sykes. Bloodman's long been saving for this. After competing in Australia, Sykes was recruited by former Syracuse star Eric Devendorf to play for the Oranges alumni team, Boeheim's Army, in The Basketball Tournament. The only thing thats changed lately is his platform. More: After hitting $1 million shot, Keifer Sykes signed with Pacers to be closer to home, Its only one team that wins out of 64, so the chances are whatever, Sykes said. It made my heart weep in joy, not weep in sorrow but in joy that, Wow, he really feels that way about me.. Although Sykes has not brought details of his wife in light, he is a father to his son Hugo and daughter Zarah. He's second on Green Bay's all-time scoring list, a mutantly athletic 6-foot-tall NBA prospect trying to will the program to its firstNCAA Tournamentbid since 1996. He was closer to him than any of his other siblings. 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.. Magee is now enrolled at Grand Canyon University. Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell said their plan was always to help Sykes get closer to his dream. Mitchell become familiar with Sykes through his overseas play and thought he'd played out of position at shooting guard for most of his pro career. I shot that wing 3 against the Bulls,I air-balled. He worries about his 4-year-old son, Keifer Jr., who lives in a neighborhood in Chicago that Sykes knows is violent. "I do not want to go pro overseas," he said. Moreover, last year on her 5th birthday, Sykes took it to his Instagram@ksykeyb28. Sykes keeps in touch with all of them but he hasn't seen Kristie and Antawn in years. "As a coach, you would love to have all parents talk to him in a lot of ways. On 5 August 2021, he also struck a deal with the NBA team, Indiana Pacers. We had nothing, man. 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. "He's earned it really starting in the summer just with his approach, his work ethic, his level of improvement, which has been gradual and consistent. One team has a player with two children born from two women three months apart. The contract became guaranteed. The two-time Horizon League Player of the Year scores a career-best 36 against UIC, helping the Phoenix win 72-67. Like Sykes, he's a senior NBA prospect. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. His father, his best friend, was dead. Thats the heros journey, Sykes said. Sykes right-hand man, Rashad McKinnie, who helps run Sykes' Free10 Foundation calls Sykes bond with the youth in the Chicagoland area the The Keifer Effect. No matter where Sykes career has taken him from starring at Marshall High School to becoming a Korean Basketball League All-Star to earning a guaranteed contract from the Pacers hes always carved out time to return to his old stomping grounds. He was 55. In fact, Sykes is technically on a two-year deal, but the second year of his contract is non-guaranteed. I thought I was going to pass out, but I stayed strong. 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.. On Tuesday morning, Buchanan got into a car with his father, aunt and uncle and drove nearly four hours to join his team in Dayton, Ohio. 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. "It's not easy, for me, but the best thing I have going on for me right now is my wife," Gathers said. Gathers recalls now the way he won her over -- by attending her 16th birthday party and jokingly signing a basketball for her as a present. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'biographyhost_com-banner-1','ezslot_5',132,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-biographyhost_com-banner-1-0');if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'biographyhost_com-banner-1','ezslot_6',132,'0','1'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-biographyhost_com-banner-1-0_1');.banner-1-multi-132{border:none!important;display:block!important;float:none!important;line-height:0;margin-bottom:7px!important;margin-left:auto!important;margin-right:auto!important;margin-top:7px!important;max-width:100%!important;min-height:250px;padding:0;text-align:center!important}. This is my path, and thats just what it is. "I didn't expect much out of basketball," Sykes said. We treat him as one of us. You scope college basketball, and the stories are everywhere. Every time dad gets home, son takes it right to the hoop. We both were really scared. He dapped the boy up and encouraged him to dream big, which is fitting for Sykes, a 28-year-old NBA rookie. "She's the key to being married, to being a dad. You could call this, The Keifer Effect, McKinnie said. Most of the deals being completed around the NBA right now are 10-day hardship contracts, but it doesn't appear that'll be the case here, since the Pacers don't have any players in the health and safety protocols and will be waiving a . Over Indianas past two games,Sykes is averaging 20.0points, 5.5assists and 3.5rebounds while shooting 53.8% from the field, 50.0% on 3-pointers and 85.7% at the free-throw line. 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.. The 28-year-old doesnt remember the last conversation he had with his dad because he never expected it to be the final one. He took birth to his late father, James Sykes, and his mother, Lisa Sykes, as the youngest of their nine children. At the time I didnt know that, but he was affirming my greatness. Soon after, the Austin Spurs acquired him for the NBA G League, and Sykes stayed there until 2016. It's scary how fast he is at it. Hes gonna have the film footage, and its the continuation of truly one of the amazing stories in sport.. Reach him via email: jboyd1@gannett.com. He's brand new to this game. "So she just told me congratulations. Keifer Sykes is 6-0 (183 cm) tall. One thing Lisa Sykes made sure to add is, while her son shined the spotlight squarely on her, she didnt raise him alone. More than a decade later, and after making a name for himself overseas, the only box Sykes said he had left to check was to beat the odds his younger self foretold and finally play in an NBA game. All coaches who were asked estimated that more than half the teams in Division I men's basketball currently have at least one player who is father, or a father-to-be, on their roster. "Most four-year players have a teammate at some point who is either having a child or has had a child," Illinois state coach Dan Muller, who's coached a few dads, said. Because KJ wants to be a big boy really fast. Going to Europe would mean Sykes, who is not married and not dating the mother of his child, could not bring KJ with him. There are major facets to these players' lives that are never seen, seldom known, but emotionally significant signposts toward personal growth and elemental struggle. 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. She's been a tremendous help to our players and our players' girlfriends. 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