Professional hoops was in full swing as two of the NBA’s finest

descended upon the islands, thanks to the financial sup-port of state tourism tax dollars provided by Hawai‘i Tourism Authority.

Local fans arrived in droves to watch the Los Angeles Clippers take the Houston Rockets at Stan Sheriff Center. While some bemoaned the fact that three of the four superstars were sidelined, those who attend-ed the preseason contest were given a real and rare treat in witnessing the stellar play of Rockets’ megastar James Harden, who was on the court for nearly 30 minutes, finishing with 37 points and countless rebounds and as-sists.

I, like many others, tru-

ly marveled at watching the athletic abilities of “the Beard,” who played as if it were a regular-season game that counted, and we also got to view up close several NBA outstanding veterans perform, like perennial NBA Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams of the Clippers and one of the NBA’s top big men, Houston’s Clint Capela.

Much in the way that Harden gave an all-star effort at Stan Sheriff, the Clippers went to great lengths to en-gage the Hawai‘i community in a major way. It was heart-ening to see the tremendous impact they made throughout their short stay.

For instance, several months ago, the Clippers asked for help in identifying a public school that would best utilize a high-tech dona-

tion from its charitable arm, LA Clippers Foundation. After reviewing their crite-ria, I recommended Central Middle School as a possible fit for this initiative.

On Oct. 4, Central Middle School’s visionary principal Anne Marie Murphy and Clippers president of busi-ness operations Gillian Zuck-er unveiled a new innovation hub that included new iPads, virtual reality headsets, 3D printers and autonomous cars that will help Central’s diverse students succeed in the technology-driven job market of today and the fu-ture.

If all this wasn’t enough, when the irrepressible Zuck-er arrived on campus to oversee the work of the new

Pictured at Central Middle School’s opening ceremony for its innovation hub are (from left) Complex Area superintendent Linell Dilwith, principal Anne Marie Murphy, the author, Clippers president of business operations Gillian Zucker, eighth-grade student representative Laziel Lautele and Clippers mascot Chuck. PHOTO COURTESY JARED ELLIS

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A ‘Priceless’ Engagement For The NBA, HTAISLAND MATTERS Mufi Hannemann

tech center, she noticed that Cen-tral’s basketball court, visible from Vineyard Boulevard, was in serious disrepair. She and her team imme-diately set out to remedy the situa-tion and in roughly 48 hours, they patched the surface and installed new backboards, rims and nets that were flown in from LA.

For Zucker, this was all in a day’s work. She intimated to me that a basketball organization like the Clippers has a responsibility to fix the court. Her moral compass told her, it was only right that they con-tribute a bonus gift for this small unsung school on the outskirts of Chinatown and a stone’s throw from the state Capitol. The Clippers gifts of technology and sports will long be remembered and cherished by principal Murphy and the Cen-tral ‘ohana.

Between their two preseason

contests, the Clippers staff and team members hosted a full day of clinics at Klum Gym for 450 local players and coaches.

Major shoutout goes to HTA president Chris Tatum for provid-ing the funds to sponsor a repre-sentative group of players from

every island — all of them eager to hone their skills. This was the second time that HTA made it pos-sible for neighbor island participa-tion with a major sporting event on O‘ahu. They also did it with the Rams football clinic in June.

The coaches who accompanied the players were effusive in their praise at being invited to the clinics. Accomplished Konawaena coach Bobbie Awa highlighted the effect that an experience like this can have on a young player, noting that, “These kids have big dreams and now they can say, I can have that opportunity when I get older and maybe become an NBA player or coach.”

Former Rainbow Wahine bas-ketball and volleyball standout Kalei Adolpho led a group from Moloka‘i and noted how positive it was that “funds that come from

visitors would be used to benefit local kids.”

Lāna‘i’s Keleah-Aiko Koloi, also a former Rainbow Wahine, remarked, “I never had this when I was in grade school, and for Ha-wai‘i tourism to bring my younger sister and five other kids from Lā-na‘i is really amazing.”

Jason Donez, Lahainaluna assis-tant basketball coach, whose talent-ed 13-year-old daughter Lola was part of the Maui contingent, stated, “To include the outer islands was awesome as this is not something that comes to our state too often.”

Fittingly, Kaua‘i’s Hoopsters Club coach, John Quinones, opined, “The fact that we get to come to O‘ahu instead of flying to the mainland to see an NBA player or coach ... that’s priceless!”

mufi@mufihannemann.com

Los Angeles Clippers point guard Patrick Beverley (21) chases Houston Rockets player Eric Gordon (10) during an Oct. 3 NBA preseason game at Stan Sheriff Center at University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. AP PHOTO BY MARCO GARCIA

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