Sharone Wright gives back to community with local basketball camp

Sharone Wright says he never forgot where he was from. Wright, who grew up in Unionville, wanted to give back to his community because it was where he learned the game of basketball.

And 18 years ago, he made that happen with his basketball camps.

“There wasn’t very many opportunities to go to camps for kids in poverty-stricken areas, so I just felt like it would be great for me to try and facilitate that for some of the kids here,” Wright said.

That started his rookie year in the NBA. Wright, who started his career with the Philadelphia 76ers, said his mom told him that he should get involved with running basketball camps.

His inspiration came from camps that former NBA player and Southwest product Jeff Malone used to hold when Wright was young. Wright, who also starred at Southwest, wanted to mimic that camp because of the impact he saw it had on everyone. The Malone camp helped Wright improve as a player, and he wanted to provide a similar opportunity for younger athletes at his camp.

Wright continued that last week.

The first three days made up the Adidas Top Skill 50 camp, which featured top players from Middle Georgia. The rest of the week featured the Skill 50, which involved younger boys and girls and was open to the public.

Wright said enjoys working with younger athletes, and he works with grass roots at Adidas. That gives him the chance to help develop younger players and build a foundation for them.

“We are in a social media age where kids think they can be Steph Curry and shoot the ball from halfcourt,” Wright said. “What they don’t know is that he didn’t start shooting from there he had to work to get there.

“You got to have a skill base. If you don’t have a skill base, you’re never going to play well.”

That is why he works in the grass roots, because he wants to help the players develop the right way. And one of the most rewarding things for him, isn’t necessarily seeing the players he developed playing in the NBA, but knowing that young people he worked with in his community — both on and off the court — remember him and the impact he had on them.

He recalls one day running into one of the players participated in his camp. The young man wanted to be a culinary artist and go to chef school. While Wright couldn’t necessarily help him in that way, he could encourage him and support him along the way.

“I just want a sense of giving back,” Wright said. “I was the kid who grew who grew up on Key Street. I had people telling me what I could and couldn’t do, and you always want to teach the kids that you can do anything you want to do, all you got to do is set your mind to it and manifest it.”

This story was originally published June 5, 2016 at 7:10 PM with the headline "Sharone Wright gives back to community with local basketball camp."