Brickley initially named the runs “BlackOps” because he wanted the workouts and open runs to be discreet. Here, he gives us his breakdown of another year of BlackOps Basketball and his award picks.

The 2024 SLAM x BlackOps Awards

Breakout Season: Paolo Banchero

Photo by @kees2life

This was the fourth summer I worked with Paolo. His energy was laser-focused! We would go 60-75 minutes, and he did every drill at game speed. Coming off his first All-Star season and playoff run, he wanted more. I believe we will see Paolo in many more All-Star Games and many more playoff runs. The Magic will be very good this year.

Best Summer Shooter Award: Klay Thompson

Klay came in this offseason looking like a completely different player. He seemed a step quicker, and he shot incredibly well all summer. He literally broke every shooting record this summer. But, in CJ McCollum’s defense, Klay locked in with me in August/September, while CJ held many records and worked with me in May/June.

Best Middle Schooler I Have Ever Worked With: JJ Crawford

During the workout, JJ’s father (Jamal Crawford), Jordan Clarkson and Boardroom’s Nick DePaula were watching. Ju was hitting NBA three-pointers at a high percentage, picking up the ballhandling drills I was giving him and getting buckets on my interns! The internet always gives the interns a hard time, but they can really defend. After the workout, Jamal and I talked hoops for about an hour, and it was one of my favorite conversations of the summer. Jamal is a true student of the game. I’m calling it now: JJ Crawford will be a top-five pick one day!

Draft Day Award: Matas Buzelis and Tyler Kolek

I believe both of these guys will have long NBA careers. Matas will be a name we see on ESPN’s Top 10 plays many times this season. Tyler Kolek is my sleeper from this past draft. The Knicks got a great playmaker and scorer at No. 34. I think he’ll bring great energy with the second unit.

NCAA Award: lan Jackson

The best thing that happened to Ian Jackson was that to start his senior season, he dropped in the rankings. His entire workout approach changed at that moment, and Ian became a man on the basketball court. He worked out with me five days a week—sometimes twice a day—and went hard! I put him in situations where he played 1-on-1 with NBA players, and he more than held his own—he was wowing everyone in the gym. I can’t wait to see what he does at UNC this season.

High School Award: Kiyan Anthony & Chris Cenac Jr.

I’ve seen Kiyan Anthony develop from a little kid running around MSG to getting buckets in the NBA BlackOps runs. He is constantly texting me, showing his urgency to get in more workouts and keep improving. Chris Cenac played in the Brickley Invitational and shocked me during the workout portion. At 6-10, he can shoot the three, finish around the rim, play in the mid-post and try to dunk on you by the rim. It’s no surprise he’s skyrocketing up the rankings!

Chris Brickley Invitational Award: Tyran Stokes and Jasper Johnson

Tyran Stokes is ranked No. 1 in the Class of 2026 for a reason—he’s a matchup nightmare. He can shoot and find his teammates, and his motor is always on 100. Jasper Johnson went crazy in the game, hitting tough shot after tough shot. He really reminds me of D’Angelo Russell. Kentucky is producing high-level prospects right now.

Mentor Award: Russell Westbrook

People can say what they want about Russ, but the reality is he’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer and one of the Top 75 NBA players of all time. This was the second offseason in a row where he took the time to mentor a younger player. Last summer, it was Azzi Fudd from UConn, and this summer it was New Jersey legend Isaiah Briscoe. Russ invited Briscoe to a few of his 6 a.m. workouts and shared some gems. Russ and I have developed a genuine relationship over the years, and I’m thankful to have him as a friend.

GOAT Award: LeBron James

I was blessed to help prepare LeBron for his Gold medal run. His work definitely paid off, as he ended up getting MVP of the Olympics at 39 years old! Aside from his great workouts, toward the end of the summer, I was offered a lot of NBA coaching positions, and I needed someone to talk to who knows the game and the business. I reached out to LeBron with no expectations—if he didn’t respond, I wouldn’t have been upset at all, knowing he has a million things going on. But he sent me some great advice, and it was exactly what I needed to hear. So, thanks to the GOAT for taking the time to do that.

Best Group Workout of the Summer: Kevin Durant and CJ McCollum

There was something special about the energy at The Summit, with music blaring through the Bose speakers. Normally, players gradually work up to game-speed actions, but this workout was different. KD caught the ball in the corner, ripped through hard with two dribbles and hit a beautiful pull-up–just like he was in a playoff game. Then I passed the ball to CJ, and he did the same thing. For the next 65 minutes, both players gave it their all. That was awesome.

Best Rapper Basketball Player: Russ

Russ decided to take basketball seriously and came to me after training with his Atlanta trainer. He became a knockdown shooter. The transformation in his game was insane. He had dribble moves, was hitting NBA threes with consistency and just played with confidence. I think Russ became the best rapper-shooter l’ve ever worked with.

Best BlackOps Matchup: Jalen Brunson vs. Immanuel Quickley

Immanuel Quickley, fresh off signing his $175 million deal with the Raptors, was playing with supreme confidence against All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson. There was definitely a sense of major competition. Quickley backed up Brunson for the Knicks before being traded to the Raptors, so it felt like Quick was playing with a chip on his shoulder. Watching these two go at it for almost two hours was super entertaining. It was like watching a great boxing match. They were giving it their all and not letting up. Man, that was a great run!

Photos by @nextsubject.

The post The 2024 SLAM x BlackOps Awards: LeBron James, Jalen Brunson and More appeared first on SLAM.

He initially named the runs “Black Ops” because he wanted the workouts and open runs to be discreet. Here, Brickley is giving you an insider breakdown of another year of Black Ops Basketball.

The 2023 SLAM x BlackOps Awards

Breakout Season: Bones Hyland 

This was my first off-season working with Bones. Every time we worked out, he was very impressive. I was surprised at how well he shot the ball along with his positive attitude. I think the Clippers are a great spot for him and I’m ready for him to have a breakout year.

Mentor Award: Donovan Mitchell

Over the past few off-seasons, the Mentor Award went to Carmelo Anthony. Donavan Mitchell is now the new recipient of that award—not only is he a mentor towards young players in the NBA but he also is a mentor to some of the nation’s most elite. After workouts, he would talk to guys like Ian Jackson and Elliot Cadeau and give them some real gems on the journey of becoming a pro.

Draft Day Award: Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore 

The Houston Rockets had a great NBA Draft. I think both Amen and Cam could have immediate impacts this season. Both players play both sides of the ball and are super eager to get better. Shout out to the scouting department in Houston, they did their thing.

The Future Award: Cooper Flagg

I think Cooper is a once in a generation type of player. He is super versatile and can finish above the rim, with both hands. He’s a constant matchup problem on offense and great on the defensive end. He’s a beast. His knack for blocking shots is as good as I’ve seen at the high school level and he has something that you can’t teach. He has that DOG in him. 

Prior to reclassifying, Cooper was one of the most impressive players at the Brickley invitational. 

Best BlackOps Duo: Klay Thompson and Kevin Love

Klay Thompson and Kevin Love grew up together, but they never played on the same team. This offseason when they played on the same team at the Black Ops run, it was special to watch. They won five straight games, which I think was the first time a team did so in BlackOps history. The way they complimented each other, you would have thought they were teammates in the past. 

Klay was moving out the ball, K-Love was finding him and vice versa. It seemed like they both didn’t miss a shot. 

Shooting Award: Paige Bueckers 

We did a bunch of shooting drills, but Paige hit 29 threes in a row. That was the most threes we’ve seen consecutively all offseason. I’m excited to watch Paige play this year at UConn, she’s going to remind people how good she is. The last time she’s played a full season, she was college basketball’s Player of the Year. 

Surprise Player Award: Ty Jerome

Ty has been in the League for four seasons. The Cavaliers will be his fourth team. I think with the right opportunity Ty is going to shock a lot of people in the League. He’s very elite from a skill standpoint. There’s nothing that he can’t do: he shoots at an elite level, his ball handling is elite and so is his decision-making. I think he could be a bright spot off the bench for the Cavs this year. 

Early Bird Award: Jimmy Butler 

Nobody works out as early in the morning as Jimmy Butler. He comes with a different type of energy in the mornings; he’s going to have either country music or heavy metal blasting on the speakers and the gym is going to feel like a sauna. I think I still dream about the number 78— that’s what the gym needed to be set for every time Jimmy worked out. Not only did he get a good workout but everyone in the gym got in a good sweat, too.

Jimmy is ready to have one of the best seasons of his career! He had a great summer of workouts. 

Best Black Ops Matchup: Donovan Mitchell vs Trae Young

It was fun seeing two of the most elite guards in the NBA go at each other. Originally, Donovan was just supposed to work out and watch the run but once Trae arrived, he persuaded Donovan to play. Both of them were going at each other and the series ended 3-2. Donovan’s team got the win for the day.

High Flyers Award: Obi Toppin and Jacob Toppin

Every time the Toppin brothers came to a run, both of them were above the rim the entire time. They both posterized many players this offseason. I’m excited to watch Obi with the Pacers. 

Most viral picture picture: Jan (Russell Westbrook workout) 

Shoutout our intern from Vietnam, Jan. Jan had a hard task all offseason with guarding  some of the NBA’s best players. He definitely had a difficult time guarding Russell Westbrook! I don’t blame him but this picture in particular went viral across the world. We joke about it with him to this day.

Football Player Hooper Award: Tom Brady and Steffon Diggs

If I was starting a basketball team of NFL players. I would definitely have Stefon Diggs as my point guard and Tom Brady as my shooting guard. Both of these guys are really talented on the basketball court. I would say Tom Brady is a better shooter, but Diggs is a better playmaker. Diggs has bounce, too. 

Most Surprising Shooter Award: H.E.R.

Grammy award-winning artist H.E.R. has developed a big-time jumpshot!! In the past, the best artist shooting award would go to J. Cole, but I think Gabi would make a run for that award now. She can really shoot it. Ask Jimmy Butler. 

‘He’s Next’ Award: Kiyan Anthony 

Not only did he grow a few inches this summer, but Kiyan Anthony really made a name for himself on the EYBL Circuit. He has developed some of his dad’s footwork, which has made him one of the most elite grassroot players in the country. Sky’s the limit for Kiyan. 

Most Viral Moment: Tom Brady 

The most viral moment was definitely the Tom Brady workout. It got 34 million views across all platforms within the first 48 hours. On my page, it was shared 58,600 times. That’s the most of any video this summer. Tom Brady is the GOAT! 

• 
  The 2024 SLAM x BlackOps Awards: LeBron James, Jalen Brunson and More
  by Chris Brickley

The post The 2023 SLAM x Black Ops Awards: Jimmy Butler, Tom Brady and More appeared first on SLAM.

Preparation Award: LeBron James 

LeBron is LeBron because of his insane work ethic. This summer, if a workout was scheduled for 10 AM, LBJ would walk in early at 9:15 AM. He’d then do a workout routine that included stretching, balance, and core for about 40 minutes. Once he was done with that, he’d go back to his post workout routine—stretching, some cool down and then balance exercises. For a player going into his 20th season, his body sure doesn’t look like it but he moves on the court like he’s 31, not 37.

Early Bird Award: Jimmy Butler 

Jimmy and I travelled the world this summer. From time zone to time zone, we worked out in New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Miami, the Hamptons, Switzerland, Paris…the list goes on. No matter where we were, we would always start our workouts at 6 AM—I’m not going to lie, but sometimes, depending on the time, I would be super tired when my alarm rang at 5 in the morning. But it was always a great feeling to be done with his first workout by 7:30 AM. In Europe, we even did double sessions. Jimmy had a great summer and I’m excited for him to show off his work this season. 

Biggest Black Ops Surprise (Non-NBA Player): Ian Jackson 

Over the years, I’ve had many elite high school players play in the summer Black Ops Runs: Donovan Mitchell, Obi Toppin, Cole Anthony, Adrian Griffin to name a few. But no high school player had a summer like Cardinal Hayes’ Ian Jackson. His first Black Ops Run was a learning lesson—the pace of the game was very fast for him and he struggled. However, he did come back the next day and played great and had eight threes and a series of nice dunks and passes. After that day, he was comfortable and he surprised NBA players all summer.

The Record Holder: CJ McCollum

There are a few drills each summer that I keep track of, specifically the player shooting 50 threes off the dribble or 100 threes off of the move. Well, CJ McCollum holds the record in almost all of them. He has an incredible work ethic and a very consistent jump shot. He made 92 out of 100 threes in one of the drills and also broke a few other records. 

Viral Sneaker Moment: LeBron James 

LeBron came to a workout one time with a light brown box in his hand. But there was no writing on the box. It wasn’t until after he did his pre-workout stretching routine that he laced up his sneakers and revealed that they were the LeBron 20s. It was the first time anyone had seen them. Within minutes of me posting a picture of them, the photo was everywhere and the top story on every sneaker blog across the world. Definitely a special moment. 

Breakout Season: Dre Hunter 

Dre Hunter worked out with me for the first time this summer and he was hungry! He learned very quickly and always pushed himself. I was very impressed with his professionalism and his skill level, too, and I think this year will be a huge year for Dre. 

Best 1 Day Performance in a Black Ops Run: Jaylen Brown

Jaylen Brown came to NYC during Fashion Week and pulled up to a Black Ops run. He dominated the run offensively and defensively, even hitting a series of game winners. He couldn’t be stopped and the entire gym saw how talented he was that day. On top of dominating the game, he had asked me to put Ian Jackson on his team so he could mentor him. He’s truly a great leader. 

What People Don’t Know: Drake’s Jumpshot

Everyone knows about Drake’s new gym at his house in Toronto but not everyone knows about how he’s improved his jumpshot. His form looked completely different from when I saw him last—he even played in a run at the Summit and hit 13 threes. The video went viral. 

Most Focused: Ty Jerome 

Ty Jerome’s work ethic this summer was on 1,000. He came to the gym all summer long to workout; he would jump into others players workouts to learn and he really improved. Every player that came to the gym consistently improved their games but Ty improved the most. I’m excited that he has landed on the Warriors. I think that’s a great fit for him. 

Efficiency Award: Kevin Love 

Kevin Love had a very productive offseason. Coming off of getting runner up for Sixth Man of the Year, he had an extra pep in his step this summer. We would shoot 100 threes after each workout and Kev would never get below 75; he’d average between 80 and 85. That is what I call efficient shooting. 

Best Conditioned: Julius Randle 

By the end of the offseason, Julius would come to the gym and workout for 90 minutes straight with no water break and free throws. He would ask me to push him as much as possible and most of the drills would be full court, too. He has to be one of the best conditioned athletes in all of the NBA. 

Biggest Surprise in a Black Ops Run: Paolo Banchero

Paolo came to a run after he was drafted No. 1 and people didn’t know what to expect at first. Well, when they left that day, they knew that Paolo was going to be a very special player. He scored in a number of ways: slashing to the hoop, mid post, offensive rebounds and threes. Funny part about his performance was that after the first game, I went up to him and said, “Can you please be aggressive!” He definitely listened and after a slow start, he stringed off about eight great games. 

Viral Moment: Donovan Mitchell’s Dunk

The angle of the video did not do the dunk justice, but when Donovan blew by his opponent and raised up for a two-hand dunk, he dunked it so hard that the entire backboard shifted. We had to stop the game and shift it back into center. The video went viral and the funny part was that one of the players had yelled out to Paolo Banchero, “Welcome to the NBA.” Unfortunately, Paolo was the one Donovan had blown by.

King of the Hill Award: Kevin Porter Jr.

During the course of the summer, one of my favorite things to do is have the players play 1-on-1. Kevin Porter Jr. was unstoppable in that setting and it didn’t matter if there was a three dribble limit or a single dribble limit. Kevin won every 1-on-1 matchup that summer.

Point God Award: Darius Garland and Cole Anthony

We’ve had some incredible performances by point guards this summer, but both Darius Garland and Cole Anthony played tremendously. The game looked so easy for them: not only do they make their teammates better, but they can get to anywhere they want on the court and make tough shots. Both of those guys have bright futures in the NBA.

Watch Out For: Kiyan Anthony 

Kiyan Anthony, who will be a sophomore at Christ the King, had one of those summers where you say, Man he got so much better! Not only did he grow about four inches this summer, but his game has really developed. He already has a handful of Division I offers and he’s nationally ranked.

The post The 2022 Black Ops Basketball Summer Recap and Awards appeared first on SLAM.

—

Gym Rat Award: Cole Anthony

Cole lived in the gym. He would put in 60-90 minutes on the court pretty much every day. Even when he was off, he would come by and observe guys like CJ McCollum and Donovan Mitchell work out. He really is a student of the game. He’s hungry.

Locked-In Award: D’Angelo Russell

During free agency, when D’Angelo didn’t know where he would be playing this season, we had some of our most intense workouts. I’m talking, some of the most intense workouts I’ve ever conducted. Some nights we would be on the court working from midnight to 2 a.m.

18 Minutes Champion: James Harden

One of my favorite workouts is an 18-minute shooting drill. It consists of 18 straight minutes of 3s. For nine of those minutes, the player is on the move; and for the other nine, they stand still. James Harden had the summer record with 265 makes. CJ McCollum finished second with 261. Those numbers are ridiculous!

Biggest Surprise: Ty Jerome

When Ty played in the Black Ops runs, he controlled the game. He was hitting threes from almost half court and also making his teammates better. One day, he won every single game (nine straight). Ty is going to have a big rookie year. 

Biggest Surprise, Non-NBA Player: J. Cole

J. Cole played in a handful of Black Ops runs, but one of the days was particularly memorable. Sharing the court with nine NBA guys, he hit 3 game-winners and shot 7-8 from deep.

Most Focused: Donovan Mitchell

Heading into Team USA tryouts, Donovan would come in the gym every morning with a chip on his shoulder. He logged double sessions a lot of days, too. He was extremely focused and pushed himself to be as ready as possible for USA. His work was rewarded by his great play in the World Cup.

What People Don’t Know: James Harden’s Work Ethic

James would work out daily and he’d run suicides on his own afterward. One day, following a tiring session with two other NBA players, James still got on the line and knocked out his suicides. Averaging 36.9 points per game doesn’t just happen. Tremendous work ethic is required.

The Mentor: Carmelo Anthony

Melo worked very, very hard this summer himself, but he also helped others get better. He did individual sessions and played one-on-one with Cole Anthony, Kyle Kuzma, Julius Randle, Donovan Mitchell and Terrence Clarke. He shared his knowledge and taught them how to do specific moves. Melo showed his maturity and his leadership qualities. He didn’t have to do those sessions. He did it because he wanted to pass on his wisdom to the next generation.

Best Duo: Donovan Mitchell and Trae Young

Imagine these two in the same backcourt. It’s a coach’s dream. It started in Louisville, when Mitchell and Trae worked out together and played pick-up against the Cardinals’ men’s basketball team. Then when we started the Black Ops games, they ran together and it was a scary site. They have great chemistry. 

Walking Bucket Award: TJ Warren

TJ played in a few Black Ops games and was unstoppable. He can score in a number of ways and he’s highly underrated on a national scale. 

NC Crew: Dennis Smith Jr, TJ Warren & J. Cole

The North Carolina crew is very close. Not only would they play on the same team during Black Ops runs, they would also work out together at night.

Most Viral Picture: Cole Anthony Putback Dunk

Wow Moment: Adrian Griffin Jr & Terrence Clarke

Adrian Griffin Jr was the youngest player to ever play in a Black Ops run. He was 15 years old and he was on fire. His first outing, he scored over 20 points and played like a grown man. Everyone left the gym impressed. Terrence Clarke also put on a show. His handle reminds me of Jamal Crawford and he’s very skilled. Kentucky got a great one.

Most Competitive Workout: Russell Westbrook & James Harden

James and Russell worked out together and I said, ‘First to win 10 drills wins the workout.’ It literally came down to the last shot. It was 9-9 and the last drill was 50 threes on the move. James got 35. Russ was at 34-49 and the last shot would have tied James to send the workout into overtime, but he missed it.

Any time Russ is on the court, he brings a whole different level of intensity. I love it.

High-Flyer Award: Kelly Oubre

Oubre really had 16 dunks in a single Black Ops run. And he had a beanie on when he did it, too. The internet ran with it. #BeanieKelly

—

Follow Chris Brickley on Instagram.

The post Black Ops Basketball: 2019 Summer Recap and Awards appeared first on SLAM.

Last summer was the first summer I did it, so everything was new. We were doing the training and saw all the Hoodie Melo stuff and the open runs were going viral. When it was over, a lot of people thought it could’ve been a one-time thing or a fluke. I really wanted this summer to be as powerful so Black-Ops could become a staple within basketball culture. We did it again and it was even busier—more workouts, more open runs. And it was just as good. That was the goal. Here are some of the standout moments and the inaugural Black-Ops awards:

LeBron James and Ben Simmons

Bron and Ben came the same day. Before the runs, I’ll go up to the big players and say, Are you cool with these being the teams? So I had the teams set, and I had LeBron guarding Ben. I showed LeBron and he was like, I want to play on Ben’s team. I want to play together.

As the run started, they played super well together. Just jelled really well. It was almost like LeBron was mentoring Ben throughout the run. That was a cool moment, just to see the Rookie of the Year being mentored by one of the best players to ever play the game.

Carmelo Anthony

It was interesting—the whole summer, a lot of people were down on Melo. Even among his peers, they saw the OKC year and he didn’t have the best year, so a bunch of people who walked into the gym—players included—were thinking, I’m going to be able to guard Melo. But regardless of who is guarding him, at the end of the day, he is still a walking bucket.

No one could guard him all summer. That was cool to see—him showing people that he hasn’t lost it. He for sure had a chip on his shoulder, especially when the younger guys would try to guard him. There were guys who came in and you could tell they were going into the day like, I’m going to lock Melo down today. And, you know, they could never do it.

James Harden and Melo

It was the first time since Carmelo officially became a Rocket that he was playing on the same team as James in a run. It was cool to see how they were finding each other and playing the two-man game. That day, they won every game. We usually do best of seven and they won every game. The chemistry was definitely there.

CJ McCollum

Every single spectator who came in the gym—whether it was an actor, rapper or just a random person—they were always like, Wow, CJ is really good. He really surprised everyone the whole summer. No one could stop him. He was literally one of the most consistent guys in the gym. And he actually held the record for most points in a day—he had 68. That’s spread out over seven to nine games. We play ones and twos to 9 or 11. But I count the twos and threes, and he got the most points in a day. Sixty-eight. Which is crazy.

Rookie Edition

Melo and I went to the National Basketball Players Association building. He spoke to the rookies and invited them to come to the Black-Ops open run when they were done with the Rookie Transition Program. Trae Young, Miles Bridges, Mo Bamba, Hamidou Diallo, Isaiah Briscoe and Anfernee Simons came through. They literally all came together, all the Ubers came together straight to the gym from NBPA. And they had been on lockdown at the Rookie Transition for four days, so they had all the energy in the world. It was like they were playing in the playoffs, going super hard. And Melo was playing—it was just really fun to see the next group of stars play against some NBA guys. All the NBA guys were joking, like, Man, you guys have extra energy because you haven’t done anything for four days.

Kevin Durant, Aaron Gordon and Cole Anthony

Durant flew across the country, landed at like 3 in the morning from Los Angeles. The same day, high school superstar Cole Anthony left one of the camps he was at. He wanted to play with KD so bad that he landed at like 10 a.m. Both of them came in, they were super tired from their flights. We had Cole and KD on the same team, and that was really cool to witness. It was Cole’s first time playing against NBA players in that setting. He was facilitating to KD and they were playing really well together. Really cool that they both flew in just to play in the run.

At the same time, KD and Aaron Gordon were going back and forth. To Aaron Gordon, it was like Game 7 of a playoff series, because he got to play against KD. He played very well. His whole game is developing.

Russell Westbrook and CJ

The Westbrook, McCollum day—that was really cool because they are both Western Conference guards and match up against each other numerous times throughout the season. They weren’t necessarily guarding each other the whole day, but they were on separate teams and were literally going basket for basket the entire session. That was one of the most entertaining days to watch. Those guys are super competitive.

Trae Young

Trae came a few times before and also for the rookie edition. He looked really good. His first time, he was matched up against CJ McCollum, which is a great matchup for him. It was almost like a “Welcome to the NBA” moment. CJ is so hard to guard and a vet with the way he plays, so I bet that was a really good learning experience for Trae.

High School Edition

Every now and then we’ll do something different. This year, we decided to give high school kids Cole Anthony, [New Jersey small forward] Scottie Lewis and [New York big man] Precious Achiuwa a chance. All top-15 rising seniors in the country. It was cool just to see what they had against the NBA guys. The first two or three games, they were kind of nervous. You could tell they were playing timid. As the games progressed, they got more confident. Once they got all the jitters out, they performed really well—especially how Cole was working with KD, they had good cohesion. And Precious actually had one of the plays of the summer. He dunked on Amar’e Stoudemire so hard.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn7TwohADsY/?hl=en&taken-by=cbrickley603

Best Fit (from a player): LeBron. He debuted the Versace x Kith collab, which was huge in the fashion world. Later that day they announced it, but when LeBron walked in, that was the first time anyone had seen it. People went crazy.

Best Fit (from anyone who rolled through): Quavo. He wore, like, $3,500 worth of Louis Vuitton workout gear. That was definitely outfit of the summer.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnFfnR_gGRT/?hl=en&taken-by=cbrickley603

Most Threes: Tim Hardaway Jr. He hit 13 three-pointers in one of the runs (seven games). Just had a ridiculous shooting performance that day.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmqyoD6AuE1/?hl=en&taken-by=cbrickley603

Heat Check: JR Smith. In a game to 9, he scored all nine baskets to lead his team to a win. Everyone knows he can get really hot. That was the first time I’ve ever seen that—he literally scored every one of his team’s baskets.

Early Bird: Donovan Mitchell. He had a 6 a.m. workout and called me at 5:27 a.m. and was like, Hey, I’m at the gym. He’s always early, but this time he was super early.

Best Rapper Who Hoops: Quavo. Rappers sometimes come and watch the pickup, and when it’s done they’ll get shots up. We had Quavo, Travis Scott and YG in the gym. Quavo was the best basketball player.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm9FyBBAK21/?hl=en&taken-by=cbrickley603

Most Surprising: Terry Rozier. He shocked me in his individual workout. Just shot the ball phenomenally. I’ve always known he was good and been a fan of his, but he still really surprised me. Everyone knows he can handle it, penetrate and defend, but his shot was phenomenal.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnMImxfAo71/?hl=en&taken-by=cbrickley603

Most Underrated: Enes Kanter. In an open run setting, it’s tough for big men to shine. He didn’t get enough love or attention, but he was literally at every run and shot a ridiculous field goal percentage and played super hard.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn8sSpsA2BX/?hl=en&taken-by=cbrickley603

Most Intense: Russell Westbrook. He has one speed, goes 100 percent all the time.

Most Viral Moment: Durag Lance Stephenson.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmOv06wAcSn/?hl=en&taken-by=cbrickley603

Best Picture: Frank Ntilikina.

—

Follow Chris Brickley on Instagram @cbrickley603.

Photos by Jimmy Fontaine, Anthony B. Geathers and Michael Eng.

The post Black-Ops Basketball: 2018 Summer Recap, Highlights and Awards 🏆 appeared first on SLAM.

Sixteen hours after leaving the Garden, I was on court in Kentucky with [former Louisville guard] Donovan Mitchell and [former Kentucky guard] Isaiah Briscoe. That’s how Black Ops began.

Obviously, though, it goes back to my relationship with Melo. We grew close during our time with the Knicks. We’d worked out in previous offseasons, but this summer we decided to take things to a different level.

By the end of the summer things were crazy. I live in the same building as the gym and sometimes would go days without stepping outside. It was a blessing. Every night, after spending all day on the court, I’d have like 15-20 NBA guys texting me trying to find out what time the run was at the next day. They liked the competition but also that I break down every clip from the scrimmages and text them thoughts. I do that all year with all the guys I work with. But being able to see how hard guys like LeBron, Melo and KD work, it just made me better at what I do.

Going forward, we’re going to keep working with NBA guys but also youth players and draft prospects. We want Black Ops to take over basketball in New York City and, eventually, the country. I want it to be home to the greatest pick-up games in the world.

—

As told to Yaron Weitzman

Photos by Joseph L. Sherman

The post He Got Next appeared first on SLAM.