Village helped Clippers' Shamet grow up

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - As soon as the doors of Park Hill High School's gymnasium were unlocked on a 75-degree July morning, the first attendees of Landry Shamet's sold-out basketball camp streamed through.

Some wore Los Angeles Clippers gear. Others carried basketballs. Everyone craned their necks to get a glimpse of the hometown star who, in just the last year, had gone from a first-round pick in Philadelphia seemingly bound for the G League into a Clippers starter with all-rookie honors, and a game-winning three-pointer in the playoffs, to his name.

If campers had signed up to emulate Shamet, they were partly in luck. Counselors taught shooting form and preached hustle. Each huddle ended with a cry of Shamet's mantra: "Never cheated."

But not everything that explained his rookie success could be taught in a two-day camp.

"Landry," said David Garrison, Shamet's high school coach at Park Hill, "has always been wise beyond his years."

For the Clippers to claim