Mavs guard Jaden Hardy hosted his third basketball camp

As far as Lawrence Mann is concerned, Jaden Hardy’s path to joining the Dallas Mavericks was sort of a divine intervention type of occasion.

Before the Mavs made a draft-day trade to acquire Hardy from the Sacramento Kings on June 23, 2022, thanks to Mann — the founder and executive director of Plano-based Top Achievers – Hardy had already been telling his journey to kids in the Dallas Fort-Worth area while he was attending Coronado High School in Henderson, NV, in suburban Las Vegas.

“When he was in Las Vegas we had zoom conferences and mentorships, and Jaden was talking to kids about his journey,” Mann told Mavs.com. “Then, three years later he’s coming here to Dallas to play basketball (for the Mavs), and he felt that it was amazing that he had a fan base that was prepared to greet him when he got off the plane.

“I don’t know if it was the luck of the draw, I don’t know if it was a blessing. But you know what, he knows that it was something spectacular to have a fan base before he even got acclimated to our community. So that was pretty cool.”

Mann grew up in Detroit right around the corner from Hardy’s dad, Ramsey. So, when Hardy was trying to piece together a free basketball camp for kids to attend in the DFW area, he turned to Mann for some assistance.

Thus, before Hardy even donned a Mavs uniform as a rookie in 2022, he had already hosted a basketball camp. And on Saturday, Hardy was the host of his third basketball camp in this area at June Shelton School in Far North Dallas.

“I just wanted to be involved in the community and I wanted to give back to the kids,” Hardy said. “I always used to go to camps growing up. NBA players came to my community, so I just wanted to do the same.

“I feel like that’s what helped me get here (to the NBA). Seeing that from an early age, being able to talk to NBA players from an early age just gave me that chance to believe that I can make it, and I did. I was trusting in myself and trusting in God, and I just wanted to give back to these kids and mentor them.”

It’s a philosophy shared by Mavs chief executive officer Cynthia Marshall, who stopped by Hardy’s camp and offered some words of wisdom to the 125 campers.

“I love what (Hardy) is doing in the community and I know how important it is, so I want him to know that we are with him with his Dallas Mavericks activities at our court, and we also support him on these other courts in what he’s doing to literally invest in these young people,” Marshall said. “There’s great energy in here, and he’s taking his own time and his own money to make a difference in the community.

“So, we want him to know we appreciate it.”

Marshall appreciated it so much that she jumped at the opportunity to attend Hardy’s camp. Marshall said: “They just called me a couple of hours ago and said they were here, and I said, ‘Oh, is he doing the camp again?’ They said, ‘Yes, he does it every year.’ I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness. Well, I’m on my way — sweats, tennis shoes and T-shirts and all.’

“Because it was so important, I’m glad they let me know he was here again.”

The camp lasted five hours, and the kids walked away with Mavs gear, not to mention the knowledge they learned from the numerous coaches on hand.

“We see a new set of kids come in every year because they hear great things about the camp,” Mann said. “Not just the basketball, but the transferrable skills like the mentorship and the message we teach – how to treat others as you like to be treated and learning how to play the game the right way.

“The numbers are growing, the quality is growing in the coaches that we have that’s been here for three years. They know what to expect and that makes it a lot easier, and they know that we have high expectations of running a quality camp, so it’s good. I’m really pleased.”

As far as the Mavs are concerned, Hardy is really pleased with the team’s offseason pickups that include Klay Thompson, Quentin Grimes and Naji Marshall.

“I feel like we got some great pickups with Klay coming in, Naji and Quentin,” Hardy said. “That gives us a lot more versatility and outside shooting.

“I feel like it just helps the team overall and down the line. I feel like we have a very deep team.”

The Mavs finished last season with a 50-32 record and eventually lost to the Boston Celtics, 4-1, in the NBA Finals. With the new acquisitions, Hardy believes they now have the tools to get back to the Finals and win the whole thing.

“That’s our goal – to get back to where we were,” he said. “We want to get back to that championship and ultimately we want to win it.

“It starts early – before the season with the mini-camps — and being together and getting the chemistry going and building that camaraderie and trusting everybody. It’ll take trust and resilience. I feel like we’ve got a great group of guys to do it again.”

Hardy praised the fact that, despite being the underdogs, the Mavs won playoff series last season against the Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves. He explained how that happened, saying: “I can say one thing about that team. We all stuck together. We didn’t let outside noise affect us or what was going on.

“We just stayed with each other and trusted each other, and I feel like that’s what helped us in those situations when we were down in a series or when we were in a tough game and its crunch time in the fourth quarter. We just trusted each other, and I feel like we did a good job of that.”

Hardy, now a 22-year old guard, also knows he and the coaches at his camp did a good job in sharing their knowledge of the game of basketball and the values of networking and mentorship with the campers.

“It’s good seeing them coming out and having fun and to be able to teach them basketball, and come over here and find new friends and have fun,” Hardy said. “It’s really what it’s all about – just trying to teach the younger generation how to have some success.

“I’m having a lot of fun being able to go out there and coach them.”

X: @DwainPrice