PLANO — As Dallas Mavericks forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper glanced out at the crowd of approximately 200 kids attending the Mavs Academy Hoop Camp on Tuesday at Prestonwood Church, he couldn’t help but feel like someone had turned back the hands of time.
Prosper spoke to the kids and gave them some valuable life skills, and he also played games of knock-out with them. It was as if the kid in him was coming out all over again.
“The fun part, obviously, for me is it brings back memories from when I was a kid,” Prosper told Mavs.com. “Being at those camps and having those big-time players and those college players come to our camps, I remember those moments.
“So, for me it’s just giving back. Giving back to them and seeing that you can achieve something like this. You don’t need to be somebody special or whatever.”
When Prosper was a kid growing up in Canada, he recalls the times when several college and pro basketball players used to make the rounds and come and speak at the camps he attended.
“The most vivid one was the CP3 (Chris Paul) camp when I was about 14 or 15,” Prosper said. “CP was talking to us.”
For Prosper, the surreal moment at Tuesday’s vibrant camp was something he couldn’t deny. Especially since now it is he who is the pro basketball player delivering positive words to young kids.
“It definitely makes you feel like times flies,” Prosper said. “I remember it like it was yesterday, but now I’m here. It’s a blessing. It truly is a blessing to be in the position and to have the platform to be able to positively impact young kids and the next generation. I don’t take that for granted.
“I believe the Lord put me in this position for a reason, and to impact positively this world, and I’m going to do everything I can to help those kids, because after us it’s them. They’re the next ones going up. I take a lot of pride in that.”
Prosper, who also spoke and played games of knock-out on Wednesday at the all-girls GEM Hoop Camp in Duncanville, remembers another unforgettable encounter with a pro basketball player that will be forever stored in his memory bank.
“I went to a (Toronto) Raptors’ game once and I met (Raptors guard) Cory Joseph,” he said. “I was like 12 or 13 years old at the time.
“Just meeting those guys and seeing them, I remember how excited I was to meet them and how that was big-time for me.”
And now, fast-forwarding that moment to his experience at the two camps he attended this week, it’s taken on a whole new meaning for Prosper.
“Now being in that position, I know how happy (the kids) are to see me,” he said. “So, I love giving back to them and making them feel like I’m a personable person.
“If you can put in the work, you believe in yourself, you can achieve this — being an NBA player. (I like ) being around (the campers) and just talking to them and showing them I’m still a human being, I’m still a regular dude, regardless of where I play. So that’s what I love about this.”
X: @DwainPrice
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