With Summer League wrapped up and two months until training camp, Gradey Dick isn't slowing down.
Dick worked on his defence, rebounding and transition offence alongside kids at the Raptors Basketball Academy at Humber College on Friday.
It was his first community event since the Raptors made Dick their first-round pick in this year's NBA Draft in June.
Though the competition might not be exactly at the NBA level – the camp featured kids between the ages of seven and 12 and the tallest kid there might have been two feet shorter than the six-foot-eight Dick (if we’re being generous) – the rookie experience is much more than just the performances on the NBA courts.
“It’s been great. When I walked in the door I saw the community and the families are all coming,” Dick said about his experience as part of the event. “Everything is united and that’s what you’re looking for from the camp. The kids are having fun, the coaches are having fun, it was a great time.”
Dick took pride in being part of the action. Though he didn’t do much scoring, he made his money on the defensive glass and was a presence in transition on both ends.
A couple times, Dick was left open on fast breaks but somehow the ball didn’t come his way. It’s unlikely that it fazed him too much though, based on his wide smile.
In an attempt to showboat, he grabbed a rebound on defence, ran it up in transition, then stopped and popped from the half-court line hoping to whip the crowd of kids into a frenzy. He missed the shot, but he had the kids hyped.
“The first thing when I came in, the big word was motivation,” Dick said. “So being able to talk about that word and what it means, not only as a basketball player but as a person. Being able to talk to the kids about it and hearing their point of view as well, it’s been cool.”
Dick, a native of Wichita, Kan., was on the other side of the equation while in school when a face familiar to Raptors fans made an appearance to play alongside him.
Fred VanVleet, who played his college hoops at Wichita State, was a player that Dick remembered fondly as a kid, having led the Shockers to an undefeated regular season and a Final Four appearance in 2014 and four straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 2013-2016. The team visited Dick’s school.
“With my school I remember, Wichita State when Fred [VanVleet] was there,” Dick said. “I remember kind of seeing him for the first time, that team, Ron Baker. Wichita State was a really good team. I remember that really well.”
After getting his shots up and playing for and against the campers, an all-star game of sorts amongst the kids was set up with Dick donning the black and white as a referee for the occasion.
His debut as a referee? A couple missed calls and perhaps a propensity towards just letting the kids play. There’s a thought around sports that the referee should never be the story of the game, but when the referee is a member of the Raptors, it’s hard to not focus on the calls he makes or misses.
“Yeah I swallowed my whistle a bit on one,” Dick said about his performance as a referee. “A kid got hit on the arm so it could’ve gone a bit better but hey, getting better with time.”
Dick has quickly become a fan favourite with the Raptors. From his velvet studded masterpiece of a suit at the NBA Draft to his multitude of viral TikTok moves, he's not afraid to put himself out there.
There is always hope that lottery picks can turn into serious contributors for the team. Dick has taken to those expectations well.
“Pressure is just excitement for me,” Dick said. “When people asked where I’d be going to college, being a hometown kid and playing for [Kansas], everyone asked if there would be pressure but I just said that it was gonna be excitement.
“People are excited for me and I love that. It’s gonna be excitement playing here and the social media side is all fun too. It’s really just fun all the way around.”
As the slow summer months roll on, Dick hopes to take part in more events with the community and further become a part of Toronto’s basketball culture. Dick is looking to make an appearance at Caribana this year.
“Reggae is one of my favourite genres and they were saying this is a mash of all the different genres,” Dick said, looking forward to one of Toronto’s biggest summer events. “I’m looking forward to it. You get some reggae music, I’m gonna be out there on the street.”
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