Nets' Noah Clowney believes team's youth can be a positive
Nets forward Noah Clowney reaches for the ball along the baseline to maintain possession in the second half of an NBA game against the Pacers at Barclays Center on April 3. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Noah Clowney passed the ball to a young camper at Brooklyn Nets summer camp Wednesday. Clowney playfully held up his hand to defend, but the kid, who stood at the three-point line, wasn’t scared.
He made the shot and Clowney showed his hand again, this time for a high-five.
“Everybody I think, as a kid, would love an experience with a professional player but most people won’t have access to that,” Clowney said at Hellenic Classical Charter School. “I didn't have access to that when I was younger so I want others to.”
Clowney and Keon Johnson surprised the campers following their strong showings during NBA Summer League last month. Johnson added that being there reminded him how he didn’t attend basketball camps until his sophomore year of high school because he was focused on baseball.
Being around the campers almost resembled what the new-look Nets will be like when training camp starts in October. They currently have eight players 23 years old or younger, including Johnson, 22, and Clowney, 20.
With first-year coach Jordi Fernandez, the first phase of the Nets’ rebuild is about getting acquainted as much as development. Clowney added that, with the team’s youth, he sees why some think the Nets will struggle next season.
But it doesn’t mean he or his teammates believe it.
“We look at our roster and people think we can't compete,” Clowney said. “That don’t mean we're supposed to go out there and lay down. So I think we’re young, we can grow together and we can build something, that’s the goal.”
Clowney and Johnson also returned to Brooklyn after strong showings at NBA Summer League last month. Clowney was critical of where he could improve despite his solid play as a rim-protector with an improving three-point shot.
Johnson, on the other hand, felt relief. The Nets signed him to a multi-year contract and, after being on a two-way deal last season, he could relax with more job security.
“It was like a real big weight lifted off of my shoulders,” Johnson said. “I’ve been playing so hard and just playing so intense whenever I’m on the court, it just gives you a little bit more freedom on the court.”
That freedom was evident as Clowney and Johnson shared advice to campers and oversaw drills. But in two months, the roles will reverse as both players and their teammates take Fernandez’s advice and the Nets form an identity with a young core and new coaching staff.
Evan Barnes covers the Nets for Newsday. He previously covered Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
