'My second home': Myles Turner continues jet-setting summer with stop in Indy for basketball camp
Pacers center Myles Turner is healthy and has been traveling the world this offseason. Including a stop back in Indy to host his first youth camp on Aug. 10.
WESTFIELD — Back home again in Indiana.
Myles Turner returned for a few days over the weekend and primarily to do something he’s never done: Host a basketball camp for young Pacers fans in Indiana.
Since being taken 11th overall in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Pacers, the Texas native has returned to the Dallas area to host a camp for his hometown. Now he was finally able to bring one to the Indy area.
“Camps, more than anything, are like my passion,” he said, happy and looking like he’s had a relaxing summer. “I’m glad to finally bring it to my market. I’ve been here, my second home, eight years now.”
Turner arrived at the Pacers Athletic Center in Westfield, Ind. just before 5:00 p.m. to begin his three-hour, one-day camp with more than one hundred area kids ages 6 to 16.
“If you’ve ever seen me play, I work off of energy,” Turner said as he first addressed them. “So the energy that I give, I need for y’all to give back to me.”
He told them how they must believe in themselves to succeed, but they can’t get there without taking care of school first
“There’s a lot that goes into basketball outside of just dribbling,” he said, referencing opportunities beyond being a player. “You see this ball right here? This ball can take you all over the world. All over the world — just a little orange ball — if you stay focused. And that starts in school first.”
Turner shared how his parents, Mary and David, didn’t allow him to play basketball if he got Cs or failed any classes. “I failed in the fifth grade and I wasn’t able to go to my first basketball tournament that summer.
“If you don’t take care of the books, basketball is not going to take care of you back.”
Turner is 27 years old and entering his ninth NBA season — all with the Pacers. That’s a rarity anymore. He has two more seasons under contract after agreeing to a contract extension in the middle of last season.
See Also: 1-on-1 with David Turner: On Myles' new contract, impact in the community and the celebratory cigar
This has been one of the most enjoyable summers for Turner in recent memory. He’s as confident as he’s ever been — in himself, in his game, how he plays on the court and carries himself away from it.
He attended Fashion Week in Milan, which was especially meaningful to him as his younger sister gets into modeling. They went to six cities in Italy over two weeks. Plus Denver, Las Vegas, Turks and Caicos, the Cayman Islands, Maui, San Diego for Comic-Con, Portland for the Nike Skills Academy, and several other places.
Turner is livin’.
And he wants these kids to have a fruitful life as well.
So for three hours, he was hands on with his teaching and playing.
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle, who coached for 13 seasons in Dallas, stopped by Turner’s Dallas camp a few weeks ago for the second year in a row. And that was after Carlisle made an appearance at Aaron Nesmith’s camp in Charleston.
Yes, it does seem like every player has a summer camp. Tyrese Haliburton, Obi Toppin, etc. just with the Pacers. Haliburton made sure to get his two-day camp in before a quick vacation leading into six weeks with USA Basketball for the FIBA World Cup.
In case you missed it, I interviewed Turner one month ago while in Las Vegas for summer league. That’s where he first discussed his incredible trip to Italy and the team’s move in the draft and free agency.
Now one month later, and before addressing the campers for the first time, Turner spoke with the beat writers about this camp, having a healthy and jet-setting offseason, and the team’s offseason improvements.
Watch below:
And for paid subscribers, you can read the full transcript of what he said: