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SALT LAKE CITY — He'd just lost a heated game of Elimination after watching his basketball spin off the rim, but Mohammed Bwanadi was all smiles.
The East High senior had battled Utah Jazz center Enes Kanter down to the wire, outlasting more than a dozen other kids before Bwanadi and 6-foot-11 Kanter were the last two competitors standing.
Kanter gave it all he had, and even resorted to dunking on his much shorter foe just when it looked like the sharp-shooting teen had him beat. In the end, the NBA player came out on top. Bwanadi's consolation prize? A high-five from Kanter and a confidence boost.
"It made me believe more in my skill," said Bwanadi, a Kenyan refugee who plans to try out for his school's varsity team. (Coach, if you're reading this: the kid's got hops).
The scene was one of many once-in-a-lifetime moments enjoyed Thursday by young refugees invited to play hoops with some of the state's most famous athletes. The Utah Jazz organization, along with players Kanter and Rudy Gobert, hosted 50 youngsters who fled countries like Somalia, Bhutan and Burma, at the Zions Bank Basketball Center for a one-hour clinic.
The kids, affiliated with the State Refugee Services Office and Because He Loved Us ministry, are just a fraction of the 50,000 refugees who now call Utah home. During the clinic, the young players honed their defensive stances and worked on their layups as former NBA star Thurl Bailey and Jazz assistant coaches urged them on.
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"It was an honor when the governor asked me if I would accept that role," Bailey said. "I don't think he'd ever appointed an ambassador of anything until then."
When he accepted the job, Bailey said he was determined to be more than a mere figurehead for the cause. He often gets involved with events like the Jazz clinic, and said Utahns would be shocked if they knew the tragic stories of Utah's refugees.
On this day, it was all about fun and creating memories.
Kanter had a particularly fun time razzing one young boy sporting an Oklahoma City Thunder T-shirt.
"Is that an OKC shirt?" Kanter teased the kid. "I'm going to rip it off!"
The Jazz big man handed the boy his own long-sleeved, gray T-shirt and insisted he take off the OKC shirt before tossing it aside mock-disgustedly. The boy pulled Kanter's shirt over his head. Probably sized XXXXXL, it hung nearly to his knees. It was a souvenir for a young man who dared show up to the Jazz practice facility wearing the gear of a divisional rival.
For Jazz players Kanter and Gobert — they both said they relate to the boys. The 21-year-olds didn't flee war-torn countries, but Kanter (from Turkey) and Gobert (from France) said they know exactly what it's like to leave their homelands and head into the unknown.
Itching for the off-season to be over? The Jazz open their training camp on Tuesday, Oct. 1. An open scrimmage will be held Saturday, Oct. 5 at 4 p.m. at EnergySolutions Arena.
