Toward the end of the Luke Kennard Basketball Camp, as 360 campers circled the court at Camp Chautauqua, players with special needs played a game of basketball called “One Special Game.”
Kennard, who starred at Franklin High School and Duke University, and recently signed a one-year contract with the Atlanta Hawks, his fourth NBA team in eight seasons, cheered them on.
Kennard, 29, has made tens of millions of dollars in the NBA because he’s one of the best 3-point shooters in the world.
Last weekend, Kennard made an impact on the players and their parents larger than his bank account.
“He made my kids feel like superstars,” Mindy Myles said of her sons, Jason, 25, who is autistic, and Anthony, 19, who has Down syndrome. “The game provides hope. It gives them something to look forward to. The joy these kids get can’t be put into words.”
Then she found the perfect words: “You just can’t get these memories in the world anymore.”
The 14 players were split into two teams: Team A-Town and Team Hawks, both references to the Atlanta Hawks. They played two 11-minute halves, and the first half ended with Luke Atkinson, 21, a Middletown High School graduate with Down syndrome, making a 3-pointer.
The campers then rushed the court and engulfed an appreciative Atkinson.
“You couldn’t have scripted it any better,” said Berachah Church Pastor Lamar Ferrell, one of the organizers and master of ceremonies during the game.
While Kennard plays in the National Basketball Association, Ferrell said this night was about a different NBA — No Better Atmosphere.
During halftime, Kennard competed against four players with special needs in a slam dunk contest. Those players dunked on a lower rim, scored perfect scores and won the contest.
Ferrell, whose church also hosts “One Special Night,” a prom for students with special needs, said he wanted to create a sporting event so those children could feel the “applause and accolades” typically reserved for athletes.
He believes the event may “impact the trajectory” of some of the campers. Ferrell, whose daughter, Elley, has spina bifida, a birth defect in which an area of the spinal column doesn’t form properly, said after the experience, maybe one of the campers will become a teacher of students with special needs.
Whatever happens to the campers and the players, Ferrell and Myles give much of the credit to Kennard, who recently became a father.
“He’s a humble kid from Franklin who never forgot his roots,” Ferrell said. “His parents (Mark and Jennifer) raised him right. He’s using his platform to live out his legacy.”
After the game, Myles, 55, chatted with Kennard. All she could say was “thank you.”
Now, days later, her message is more meaningful: “He has passion. It was a gift he was given to love others.”
She said “One Special Game” provided “a memory of a lifetime” for two of her sons.
“That’s my goal as a parent,” said Myles, who has two other children, Kevin, 27, and Carolyn, 17. “If I don’t give them fun memories now, when I get old, they won’t have any memories. All parents want that for their children.”
Columnist Rick McCrabb writes about local people and events every Sunday. If you have an idea for a story, contact him at rmccrabb1@gmail.com.
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