GRASSROOTS
Sierra Canyon Basketball
By Marcel Bouie
September 30, 2019
JUSBALLOUT ILLUSTRATION
The game that we love is consistently growing and changing as time goes by. Basketball and the kids that play it are developing and learning faster than their predecessors. That change is happening physically and mentally.
July 10, 2010 the official day Lebron James teamed up with his best friend NBA Champion and Finals MVP Dwyane Wade for the Miami Heat. That deal brought up an uproar in the league and things shifted. A major change for the NBA happened on that very date. We never saw friends’ team up like that to win. Even though there was backlash LeBron made it ok to team up with another great player or great organization.
The sons of Lebron James Dwyane Wade | Getty Images
Nine years later James and Wade are teaming up again but at Sierra Canyon High School. Bronny James and Zaire Wade, sons of the future Hall of Famers will be teaming up this winter for the Sierra Canyon Trail Blazers. Bronny a Top 25 Freshman and Zaire a top 100 senior will have a lot of fire power joining the team that just won a State Title a year before with Cassius Stanley, Kenyon Martin Jr, and Scottie Pippen Jr. Those guys graduated but a couple of highly touted players like Amari Bailey, top 10 ranked sophomore, and Terran Frank, who I think was one of the most complete players on the team last season are coming back. If that wasn’t good enough former Norcross Highschool superstar Brandon Boston transferred this past summer to join the Trail Blazers. The Kentucky committee is one of the top guards in the country. A very interesting move for a senior who has already committed to a top school. Brandon is not the only transfer; top 5 2020 recruit Ziaire Williams with offers from Duke, UNC, Arizona, Oregon, and more also transferred to Sierra Canyon this past summer. Can someone say SUPER TEAM!
Brandon Boston Jr. | Photo: 247Sports
Ziaire Williams | Photo: USA Today
Amari Bailey | Photo: Sierra Canyon Athletics
Instead of competing against the best; players are now teaming up to form super teams. The basketball culture is in a team up with your friends or other great players era. It started in the NBA and has trickled down to high school. Sierra Canyon should be in contention to win a National Championship, a trophy they have never won before with the 5 Star talent they have accumulated. Can Zaire Wade and Bronny James do something their dads couldn’t do in their first year together, win it all? They may only get one shot of being on the same team together as Zaire is a Senior and Bronny is a Freshman. The Sierra Canyon team went to China this Summer for some exhibition games, yes a high school team went to China during the Summer to hoop and all I can say is I’m excited to see this team play. Can this newly formed super team live up to expectations? We will soon find out as the season starts Nov 21.