OTISFIELD, MAINE | Campers at the Seeds of Peace camp got to take a break from intense dialogues about war and conflict to spend time on the court with some famous faces.
NBA players came to the camp in Otisfield to hold a hoops clinic. The 180 campers from areas of conflict in the Middle East and South Asia learned from several players, including NBA veteran and former Celtic Brian Scalabrine, and Celtics number one draft pick Marcus Smart.
“This is an honor,” Scalabrine said. “You know we’re here with these kids and we’re teaching them, but they’re teaching us a lot of things. We get to learn from them.”
Even though the day is intended to be a break for the campers, they took the lessons of camp onto the court.
“You know, I can get so much from people here my age that, when I first came here I thought, I’m not going to speak with that guy,” fifteen year-old Israeli camper Roy said. “And like, just playing basketball with him, it’s amazing.”
There are two weeks left in Seeds of Peace camp. More than half of this year’s campers are Israeli or Palestinian.