keifer sykes daughternorth walsham police station telephone number
"It's not easy, for me, but the best thing I have going on for me right now is my wife," Gathers said. "I was speechless," he said. Gathers saved up his scholarship checks ($400 per month) and Pell Grant money to help pay Bria's rent, which came to nearly $800/month. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. As Sykes sat in the Pacers' practice facility after shootaround Tuesday, he laughed as he reflected on his Italian team, Scandone Avellino, going bankrupt after the 2018-19 season and failing to pay its players their full salaries. The diminutive guard, who's averaging 5.7 points per game, said he never gets discouraged, though, because hes learned that nothing is guaranteed while hes on his heros journey.. The sport is now, has long been, and will continue to be populated by men who are fathers well before they are emotionally and financially ready for the task. So all of this has been more than me. Sykes keeps in touch with all of them but he hasn't seen Kristie and Antawn in years. Sykes is featured in the 2018 documentary film Chi-Town, produced and directed by Nick Budabin. It's a boy, and they're down to two names with two months to go. The 28-year-old doesnt remember the last conversation he had with his dad because he never expected it to be the final one. On Dec. 7, 2013, Wisconsin Green-Bay hosted and upset Virginia behind a stellar performance from Sykes. Most did. And I think we were able to give him that. The same day Keifer Sykes contract was guaranteed, he went viral with a heartfelt message to his mom, shedding tears as he thanked her. (In this case, an ex-girlfriend of Kiefer's told her.) I told my family, 'I think the basket is moving or something,'"Sykes said, laughing. Breakups, forced relationships, long-distance relationships, fractures between families, money -- these are stresses that, comparatively, make basketball seem so simple. Really, he worried about leaving his son, how KJ would be without him, and not so much about what the schools thought of his situation or the backstory on his complicated family structure with a troupe of half-siblings. An uncle to six and the son of a farmer, Anderson grew up bailing hay in Newark, Illinois. In thesix years of his professional career, Sykes has played for various leagues worldwide, including the NBA and NBA G League. He knows all about long drives on weekends to steal time with a child. I knew my mom couldn't afford college. There's more to life than basketball. A lot of people really wanted to get to that league, especially at that time when COVID was everywhere in the world and they just had less cases," Sykes said. They want me to stay overseas to make more money for them. I was freaking out. KJ just can't wait to be 5 years old. 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. As COVID-19 began to change the landscape of everyday life, Sykes signed a one-year deal with the Phoenix, turning down more money in Europe and betting on himself to turn his stint down under into a springboard to the NBA. Sykes, a 5ft 11in (1.80m) point guard, was born in Chicago, Illinois, to the late James Sykes as the second oldest of seven children. 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 . He so reminds me of Keifer.". From grade school to now, I really paid the cost. I cant do that. I didn't learn that until Igotto college.". You cant eat before somebody whos older than you, you gotta bow, you cant drink alcohol in front of older people; it was just a full-blown different culture. in the Turkish TBL, posting 22.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. When I first committed, I didn't know where basketball would take me. He was even more so on a mission than he was before.. "More basketball players have the opportunity to have sex with more girls. Sykes elevated his play in the postseason, including a game in which he recorded 31 points and 6 steals in a 26-point comeback in a win-or-go-home game 3. He worries about his 4-year-old son, Keifer Jr., who lives in a neighborhood in Chicago that Sykes knows is violent. The season included an upset over eventual Atlantic Coast Conference regular season champion (and NCAA tournament 1-seed) Virginia in a game which saw Sykes score 21 points and distribute 10 assists. Nine children from five mothers and two fathers. On August 3, 2019, Sykes signed with the Guangzhou Loong Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association. You could call this, The Keifer Effect, McKinnie said. "I just stuck with the plan and for it to become real, man, it's just a testament to believing in yourself. Keifer Sykes weighs 180 lbs (81 kg). Five and a half years later, James and Lisa Sykes married, on April 27, 1999. He converted a traditional 3-point play when he drove, banked a shot and got a free throw, too. Back home in Chicago, one of Sykes former high school coaches, Shawn Shake Harrington, watched it all unfold in tears. His college scholarship goes toward rent. They were Dawson's final moments without having the responsibility of another person's life in his hands. We playing my hometown team, it was just my birthday (Dec. 30), everybody is excited like, 'You finally (got) the call up.' At the conclusion of the regular season, Sykes was again named first team all-conference, he was named an honorable mention AP All-American, and was named Horizon Player of the Year. Going to Europe would mean Sykes, who is not married and not dating the mother of his child, could not bring KJ with him. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. These are really childhood dreams we turned into reality for real, and I think thats the most exciting part. I didn't want my children to go through that. Why do the Pacers keep losing close games? Rhode Island and Nevada. 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. The little guy is now doing better and just turned three months old. "You don't want to encourage your guys to have kids out of wedlock, but when it happens, you have to help them. 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. We come from poverty. It's about mom just as much as dad. Every year he's gotten better at balancing and understanding that. There's too many [coaches] calling me. Keifer Sykes is an American athlete and professional basketball player. There was yelling on one end of the line and a 15-year-old stomach swirling to mush on the other. Its all demonstrated in the documentary, Carlisle said after the game. Keifer Sykes Jr. does not know who James Sykes was. After being cut, Sykes could've left Indianapolis for good and focused . "Keifer Sykes was a +27," Pacers assistant coach Mike Weinar said when spotlighting players who were effective in a summer league win over the Wizards. You could be winning and they still try to nitpick at something. Sykes' relationship with his son is the connection he carries from the one he had with his father, that connection he still feels, but one that inevitably dims with the passage of time. Trivante Bloodman is a 22-year-old senior guard from Harlem who's barely been able to sleep in the past week. They have a hierarchy. When he's running around, jumping, having fun, I can't do nothing but laugh. We come from poverty. Sykes signed with Scandone Avellino of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A on August 7, 2018.[21]. "That was the hardest part, telling her, and the first thing she said was, 'She's going to be cute.'". 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. On April 5, the 5-11 guard was autographing mini basketballs and. The Pacers waived third-string point guard Brad Wanamaker after his poor playand picked up Sykes mainly as an insurance guard since starting point guard Malcolm Brogdon was sidelined with a sore right Achilles and backup point guard T.J. McConnell is out due to right wrist surgery. Don't do what I did.'". This arrangement was particularly worrisome and problematic recently, as the boy battled a bronchial infection. Come August, Keifer will be three months removed from college. ins.style.display='block';ins.style.minWidth=container.attributes.ezaw.value+'px';ins.style.width='100%';ins.style.height=container.attributes.ezah.value+'px';container.appendChild(ins);(adsbygoogle=window.adsbygoogle||[]).push({});window.ezoSTPixelAdd(slotId,'stat_source_id',44);window.ezoSTPixelAdd(slotId,'adsensetype',1);var lo=new MutationObserver(window.ezaslEvent);lo.observe(document.getElementById(slotId+'-asloaded'),{attributes:true}); In Chicago, Illinois, USA, the NBA G League player Sykes wasbornon 30 December 1993. "I know she's probably gonna cry (when I talk to her) because it's bringing tears to my eyes right now," Sykes said, his voice cracking. Sykes said he also shared a moment over the phone Thursday night with fellow Chicago native and former high school and collegeteammate Alfonzo McKinnie, who now playsfor the Bulls. Sykes estimated he's trekked it back and forth about 20 times per season over the past four years. He graduates in two months. "At this point, she's three months pregnant," Keifer said. His daughter Zarah has just turned six years old on 22 September 2021. After a game at Indiana in 2012, Dawson asked coach Tom Izzo if he could ride with his family from Bloomington to Indianapolis to escape and spend one night with his son. I see my daughter come out to the world.". Sykes confirmed that another documentary about his life is on the way, and itll include another milestone from his first NBA season: A jersey swap with his former high school and college teammate, Alfonzo McKinnie (a distant cousin of the aforementioned Rashad McKinnie). Sykes, Dawson and Gathers all have teammates who are dads. The two helped Marshall finish third in the Class 3A Illinois high school boys basketball state tournament in 2010, and 12 years later they were on opposing sides of an NBA game for the first time when Sykes and the Pacers hosted McKinnie and their hometown Bulls on Feb 4. Lisa was there with her cancer-stricken mother; James was there tending to his niece after she'd been assaulted in a domestic dispute. Then he sank a 17-footer over . Thats the heros journey, Sykes said. After waiting for months, Dawson found the courage while plopped on a bus headed to Milwaukee. We put in all that work, and they didn't pay us. Like Sykes, he's a senior NBA prospect. Afterward, Dawson revealed his son was taken to the hospital two days earlier on account of pneumonia. Sykes went on to become a three-time First-Team All-Horizon League honoree and two-time Horizon League Player of the Year, solidifying himself as one of the best players in Wisconsin-Green Bay history. Wardle, who is now the head coach at Bradley, called James Sykes a tremendous man, the type who, alongside Lisa Sykes, wanted his son to be held to the highest standard in all areas. Luckily for Wardle, he said he never had to spend too much energy in those departments because even though Sykes was just 17 when he made his college debut making him one of the youngest players in the country he was prepared beyond his years. After Keifer impregnated his former girlfriend, Allyne, he was horrified to tell mom. He has just one full sibling, James Sykes Jr., and seven more half-siblings: DaVon, Jarvis, Kristie, Jameeka,. The ones, even in his inner circle, who repeatedly toldhim he'd never make it to the NBA. At one point, he was the only active player in the country to eclipse 2,000 points, 500 assists and 400 rebounds, but when he sat and watched the 2015 NBA Draft with his family and close friends, his name was not called among the 60 picks. I gowith different guys. The point guard impressed early. The drive was like three hours and I had been on the same trip probably 15 times, but this time it just felt so different. So it's just amazing. Flash to Feb. 12, 2015, and Freeman's sleeping in the chair next to Kylee, awaiting his miracle. Bloodman's long been saving for this. Having seen each other from afar in previous years, they met again, of all places, in an ER when she was 23. 1:08; See All. From mother to son. "She was really scared to tell me," Dawson said of his girlfriend's pregnancy. You scope college basketball, and the stories are everywhere. She took in five kids, taking care of my kids when I told her I wanted to play college basketball. How tall is Keifer Sykes? The former Indiana Pacers point guard prefers a low-key personal life. It wasn't a happy cry. He later joined the San Antonio Spurs on 28 September 2015. Hed come so close in the past and inched even closer with a shot that turned him into an overnight sensation. But that nightmare hasn't ended, neither has the pain. Sykes, a former point guard for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, sunk a pull-up three to give Boeheim's Army a 69-67 win over Team 23 in Tuesday's TBT championship. 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. Keifer frequently shows his son photos to remind him. [1] The film follows Sykes' path from high school to his brush with the NBA. His daughter Zarah has just turned six years old on 22 September 2021. He is at Green Bay because that staff impressed his father. In high school. 1 seed and took them to Game 5, which is like Game 7 over there, and lost on their floor," Sykes said. " In addition to having the second-highest teen pregnancy rate, Mississippi charts as the poorest state in the nation. At one point, a boy asked the Indiana Pacers guard to follow him on Instagram. NBA News. For his senior season, Sykes had high expectations as he was placed on the Bob Cousy Award Watch List (later becoming a Cousy Award Finalist), the Wooden Award Watch List, and the Naismith Award Watch List during the preseason. Its a real heros journey.. Magee is now enrolled at Grand Canyon University. Upon returning to Marshall whose alumni includes "Hoop Dreams" documentary star Arthur Agee, Timberwolves guard Patrick Beverly and two-time WNBA champion Cappie Pondexter Sykes gifted his former coaches and teachers a Pacers jersey as a thank you for believing in him and laying the foundation for his path to the NBA. Those are the things people have no idea what's going on behind closed doors with so many teams.". Antetokounmpo leads Milwaukee against Brooklyn after 45-point game. He'll do it if it becomes absolutely mandatory, but for now, he refuses to leave KJ. He posted a picture carrying her and wrote a beautiful heartfelt message. "It's my job to do what my dad did and tell him who my dad was," Keifer said. 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. Almost nothing about Sykes' life or current situation is normal (he impregnated his then-girlfriend, Allyne, when he was 15). This is a blessed, beautiful evening, and it's blessed and beautiful because it ends the way Sykes wants every game to end: with a boisterous embrace of his son, Keifer Sykes Jr. KJ, they call him. One of his brothers had called him before Wardle could break the news. 2004-2023 CBS Interactive. This June will mark a decade since Keifer Sykes father died, 10 years of carrying on without his biggest fan. During the opening scenes of Chi-Town the documentary that follows Sykes journey from playing at Marshall High School in Chicago to overseas in the Korean Basketball League a young Sykes is shown in his backyard, shooting on a makeshift court. The craziest thing about this is that today is (Jan. 15), so today is the first time Ive seen an NBA check, Sykes said. I've heard a couple of times him screaming, 'Go, Daddy!' I was afraid to tell my mom.". Im not entitled to anything, and Im still working. I dont know why they wouldnt allow this story to be continued in as much detail as possible. 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. I lost like 40 or 50 grand.". "I don't want to go out of the States. One afternoon Keifer was on the green line, headed back home, when he got a call. We had nothing, man. 12:00 am ET, Branden Dawson celebrates by cutting down the net after Michigan State won the East Regional Final of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. So I really had to focus in and just go out there and do what I do.". In this, Dawson's final year at Michigan State, My'Shawn has lived with him, the two of them bonding, sharing meals in a small off-campus apartment. KJ wasn't even 2 when his grandfather died. Where the family is. She's going through the same thing these young ladies are going through. Supported by his mother, Keifer Sykes finally saw his lifelong dream come to fruition last year. [25], On October 4, 2020, Sykes signed a 1-month contract with Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket League. Sykes won the 2015 Horizon League player of the year to join the elite company of players to win the award twice. August 5, 2020. [27], On December 8, 2020, Sykes signed a one-year contract with the South East Melbourne Phoenix of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). We come from poverty. "It was a surreal moment," Bell said of watching his son be born. I can't wait to see her and hug her.". Sykes didn't like the recruiting process -- at all. With these body stats, he has recorded his highest vertical jump of 44.5 inches. Vital players at Cincinnati, Southeastern Louisiana and VCU (two players) are fathers. Keifer's always been a person purely at comfort around family and only his family. Harrington was also featured in Chi-Town, and during the documentary his life took a drastic turn when he was shot and paralyzed while driving his daughter to school. Theres a lot of different rules over there. Hes really popular in the community, and were just so proud of him. Just to see him get that opportunity and be out here playing, Im so excited for him. pic.twitter.com/iZU0TTtaHa, James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) January 15, 2022. Another is dealing with a touch-and-go situation in regard to an abortion decision. He still gets frazzled thinking back to cutting KJ's umbilical cord, which he hesitantly failed to prune on first attempt, and only succeeded on the second snip under the loving demands of his father that he cut his son's cord. According to dad, My'Shawn's "not the typical kid who wants to come home and watch cartoons." It wasnt like when I went to Europe and your teammates have been around American players enough to know some English. Pacers swingmen Torrey Craig, Justin Anderson enter NBA's COVID-19 protocols, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Sykes was still at Wisconsin Green-Bay when the shooting happened and came to visit Harrington shortly afterward. 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. And as I have witnessed in recent days, the documentary is being augmented with a videographer. "We want to young parents, to be young grandparents, all of that," Anderson said. It made my heart weep in joy, not weep in sorrow but in joy that, Wow, he really feels that way about me.. People think it's hard, and it is, but when I'm around KJ, that's the only time I can really get away from [basketball]. 6-keys: media/spln/collegebasketball/reg/free/stories, at However, Wanamaker struggled in the 22 games he appeared in, averaging 3.5 points on 36.1% . More:Why do the Pacers keep losing close games? 'You don't know who this is?'". Follow IndyStar Pacers beat writer James Boyd on Twitter: @RomeovilleKid. So I was processing it, and then I didnt know what to do. Their relationship was so strong, their parents were OK with Bria moving to Waco, enrolling in a community college, and living in her own apartment at 18. And now, when he's not escaping for trips to be with dad at Green Bay, KJ practically lives with his grandmother. He's a guy that people have underestimated, whether its his size or what school he went to, and hes clearly continued to work on his game, to grind, to believe in himself. "And when the baby came out, man, it was so cool to be part of that atmosphere," Freeman said. SMU sophomore Keith Frazier, who's been suspended for the season, is a dad to a boy who's nearly 3 years old. I was the first person to see him, which was pretty cool.". He'll have his headstone then, and he'll have his son and grandson touching it. Lisa runs an out-of-home daycare operation. "So she just told me congratulations. Free schooling.". We had guys on our team trying to feed their kids fast food. He quickly capitalized on his opportunity. Sykes signed a non-guaranteed two-year deal with a team option for the second season with Indiana on Dec. 27, and the 5-11 guardfound out he'd been retained for his first seasonwhile at the team's practice facility Friday. I asked a tearful Keifer Sykes (@ksykesyb), whose contract was guaranteed by the #Pacers, how he thinks his mom, Lisa (@Supermom00767), will react when he talks to her.She deserve this more than anybody. 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. Its the shift (within in the community) that matters more.. Green Bay's Henry Uwadiae, a 6-foot-11 Nigerian-born sophomore, had a daughter born last summer. Sometimes he'll drive to Chicago, pick KJ up, stay for but a few minutes, and head right back to campus. Once my brother left, I went to school by myself. After the euphoria of winning TBT and signing a training camp deal with the Pacers, Sykes faced another hurdle when he was cut before the season started. She deserves this more than anybody. [26] The team later tried to sign Sykes to a contract for another month, but Sykes balked, wanting an agreement through the end of the year, and was let go by Panathinaikos at the end of October. I was at the back and people didnt believe in me, but my dad always believed in me and always affirmed me.. The big thing with me is, I want Keifer to be a good father first. Keifer Sykes' 3-pointer wins TBT for Boeheim's Army. , Im not forgetting these things. [10] For the second time in his career, he was named to the Honorable Mention AP All-American team. GB3 -- Bell's nickname for his son -- came out crying on Jan. 10, 2014, at 10 o'clock in the morning, 19 inches long and weighing six pounds. For now, the per diem pays for diapers. They went through predraft workouts together in 2015.Thats where my respect (for him) came from. It's nothing else but about KJ.". They all have their own things that they do, and I got your back. Wardle describes it as the hardest situation of his career, far beyond anything he faced during the summer of 2013, when accusations of verbal mistreatment from former Green Bay players threatened his job. Buchanan's son, Terry Buchanan III, was born in November with a life-threatening condition. A lot people were just calling me a scorer, so when they presented me the opportunity to run the team, be a point guard and show that I could help run the organization and prove that I could win, I was excited. Keifer Sykes, Indiana Pacers As a small guard playing in a big city, Sykes was consistently underappreciated and underranked. For Sykes, whos been giving back for years, that was the norm. The annual $1 million tourney features several alumni squads from around the country filled with professional players, and while Sykes was hesitant to play in TBT at first, it resulted in one of the best moments of his career. My heart was just filled with so much joy when he got what he wanted, and thats to play in the NBA for his dream, Lisa Sykes said. Mississippi State is the prime example. A chain response of fear, as it often does with teen pregnancies, triggered a stress reaction. "It's crazy, I told my son I'll never play 2K until I get on it, so that was kind of motivation for me.