Registration will take place in person on Monday, June 20, Tuesday, June 21, 2011 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Wednesday, June 22, 2011 from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. in the cafeteria at Northwestern High School. Please print the four forms below and bring completed and signed to registration. Or the permission slip, emergency contact info, waiver release and photo permission form can be printed and either e-mailed to flintstonebasketballcamp@gmail.com or mailed to Tonda Peterson, c/o Gail Ganakas, Flint Board of Education, 923 E. Kearsley Street, Flint, MI 48503.”

Attached are the four PDFs that need to be available for download.

Waiver Release

Emergency Contact

Camp Photo Release Form

Permission Slip

The excitement came the moment Shana Perry got a phone call from the Thunder a few months ago saying it wanted to host a Thunder Fit Clinic at her school. The predicament soon followed. Del Crest Middle School has 587 students. Perry, the school’s principal, could only choose 60 for the event.

“So I said, because it’s about fit and healthy lifestyles I talked to my phys-ed teachers and said, ‘let’s pick the kids who are in P.E. because you wouldn’t believe that there’s a lot of parents who decline for their kids to take P.E.,” Perry said. “So we looked at P.E. first, the kids who are actively involved, who serve as leaders. We even do nonfiction writing, so sometimes during P.E. class they’ll be asked why is a fit and healthy lifestyle good? So these are the kids that come to school all the time. It doesn’t mean they’re the best students in class, it just means they’re the best students in P.E. class. They’re not the best athletes. They’re the ones who come in here and give it every day, so that’s who we picked.”

The kids heard their names called on the school’s P.A. system on Tuesday, when they all were brought into the cafeteria and told they were chosen to participate in the clinic with Thunder players Kevin Durant and Mo Peterson.

“My philosophy is trust is doing what’s right even when no one’s watching,” Perry said. “They didn’t know we were – because we were. We were making the list.”

With handmade posters adorning the gymnasium walls and party music blaring through speakers, Durant and Peterson ran the students through exercise and basketball drills, held a Q&A session, gave a pop quiz and spoke to the kids about the importance of incorporating fitness into your lifestyle at an early age.

“Just an hour a day, starting to build good habits like that is going to help down the line,” Durant said. “I’m very adamant about that and I want to push that out as much as possible.”

Durant gladly obliged to be a part of the NBA Fit Team when they approached him a while back. Several other Thunder players showed their support throughout NBA Fit Week by wearing NBA Fit warm-ups before games.

Durant and Peterson headed to Del City after the Thunder went through an hour-long practice on Friday afternoon. By the time they were through with the clinic, they had broke another sweat.

Durant, for one, said he can relate to the challenges kids face these days with staying in shape.

“This day and age with the computers and video games and Twitter and Facebook, it’s different,” Durant said.

Even so, Durant said he started to cut out junk food, eat more salads and stay away from fast food and burgers in recent years. He considered Friday’s clinic a treat.

“It’s just a joy seeing them,” Durant said. “Basketball is something I’m passionate about. For this to be part of Fit Week and coming out here to do a clinic with the kids I’m happy to be a part of it. I’m very excited to get out and play and hopefully it corresponds to what they do on an everyday basis. Hopefully it’s not just here that they work out on the basketball court or outside. Hopefully it’s every day.”

Whatever item Jeremy Underhill wanted to get, so did Jason Underhill. And vice versa.

So it goes when you’re 7-year-old identical twins. Jeremy (or maybe it was Jason) wanted a Nintendo DS for Christmas. “Yeah, let’s get that,” the other twin agreed.

Not all gifts were identical. There was one football and one basketball.

Suddenly, and somewhat inexplicably, Jason (maybe Jeremy) wanted to dance in the aisle. The other twin joined him.

Their celebrity escort, second-year Thunder shooting guard James Harden, cheered on the dancing Underhill Bros. and smiled like he had just dunked over Cleveland’s J.J. Hickson (again).

The Thunder held its third annual Holiday Assist shopping spree Thursday at 5 p.m. at the Super Target at 13924 N. Penn Ave. Ten families from the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren program were the beneficiaries.

Dressed in blue Santa caps, every Thunder player participated, as did the team mascot, Rumble. Coach Scott Brooks was excused so he could attend the basketball game of his son, Chance.

Also on hand were members of the coaching staff and the team’s front office, including general manager Sam Presti.

Each group of grandchildren got a $500 gift card, as did their grandparents.

Judging from the price tags on several items stuffed into shopping carts, several accompanying players paid whatever amount went over the limit.

The first item placed into the cart of backup shooting guard Morris Peterson was a 40-inch flat-screen television. Two pairs of shoes and a skateboard soon followed.

The toy department was attacked with vigor, as were the sporting goods and electronics departments.

Only in a store so massive could shoppers actually lose sight of 6-foot-11, 245-pound rookie center Cole Aldrich and ask, “Where is he? I can’t see him. I lost him.”

Forward Serge Ibaka, who was raised on soccer in the Republic of Congo, impressively dribbled a soccer ball with both feet at the end of Aisle B42.

With a healthy number of store employees, Thunder staffers and volunteer security officers in the mix, the event was not the mob scene one might assume. A few shirts in the clothing department were accidentally knocked to the floor during a temporary logjam, then quickly picked up and returned to their proper place by All-Star Kevin Durant.

“Hey, this is a two-way street,” Royal Ivey said while playing shopping cart traffic cop.

When the shopping was done, players posed for pictures with their groups.

Presti said the more frequently a player participates in a shopping spree, the more joy seems to come from it. Presti noted how veterans such as Nick Collison, Peterson and Ivey excel at the events, and spoke of how quickly young players like Russell Westbrook have embraced the concept.

“It is so gratifying to be a part of this,” said a smiling Presti.

The Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder were No. 8 seeds in last season’s playoffs, where neither proved to be a pushover against their respective conference’s top team.

Sneaking into the postseason isn’t the goal this time.

An offseason of building around All-Star Derrick Rose has the Bulls looking like a Central Division contender heading into Wednesday night’s opener in Oklahoma City, where the only significant change around scoring champion Kevin Durant is the Thunder’s soaring expectations.

Oklahoma City (50-32) made an impressive jump from its first season after moving from Seattle, increasing its win total from 23 and securing the franchise’s first playoff appearance since 2004-05.

That coincided with Durant’s transition from young player on the rise to superstar. He averaged 30.1 points to win the scoring title, finished second behind LeBron James in the MVP voting and led his team to within a last-second tip-in of forcing a Game 7 against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round.

“I think we have confidence but we still know that last year is over with,” said Durant, who announced via Twitter that he signed a five-year, $86 million extension July 7.

“We know that we had a good year, we made it to the playoffs, but this year we know that we’ve got to start back at square one. We’ve got to work hard every day to get better, continue to fight every day and work together as a team and continue to be one group.”

Durant was held to 25.0 points per game and 35.0 percent shooting against the Lakers, but had an offseason to envy. He led the United States to its first gold medal at the world championships since 1994, winning tournament MVP honors after averaging 22.8 points.

Durant’s Thunder teammate Russell Westbrook averaged 9.1 points during the tournament, and looks poised to build on a season in which he averaged 16.1 points and 8.0 assists in starting all 82 games.

Westbrook and small forward Jeff Green give Durant some excellent secondary threats, while general manager Sam Presti’s quiet offseason saw him beef up his backcourt depth by adding Daequan Cook, Morris Peterson and Royal Ivey.

The Thunder added Kansas center Cole Aldrich in a draft-day trade as well, but Coach of the Year Scott Brooks knows his team’s chances of making a leap in the Western Conference start and end with Durant.

“He really thinks of himself as a guy that just has to work extremely hard to make a team,” Brooks said. “He has that mentality, and that’s what champions are made of.”

Joining Durant and Westbrook on the gold-medal team was Rose, who made a big leap last season by increasing his scoring average from 16.8 to 20.8.

For the second straight season, though, the Bulls (41-41) finished with as many losses as wins. After giving Boston a huge scare in the first round of the 2009 playoffs, they were competitive but only managed to take one game from top-seeded Cleveland despite Rose averaging 26.8 points.

Getting rid of oft-criticized coach Vinny Del Negro and hiring Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau was only the beginning of a busy offseason. Chicago didn’t land James, Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh, but signed eight other free agents to overhaul the team around Rose and Joakim Noah, who signed an extension in early October.

The biggest addition was power forward Carlos Boozer, and the Bulls weren’t done raiding Utah’s roster. Chicago also signed Ronnie Brewer and Kyle Korver before rounding out its roster with guards C.J. Watson and Keith Bogans, forwards Brian Scalabrine, Kurt Thomas and Turkish center Omer Asik.

“It (is) exciting that the new players are good players,” Rose said. “They’re not selfish. They can definitely help my game. They’re older than I am, so they know the NBA game better than me.”

Thibodeau should help as well. The assistant was coach Doc Rivers’ defensive guru in Boston, and having the disruptive Noah in the middle is a good place to start.

Rose will be joined by Bogans in the starting backcourt with Luol Deng at small forward, but Boozer won’t be joining Noah in the frontcourt for a while. The two-time All-Star tripped over a bag and broke a bone in his right hand earlier this month, an injury that’s expected to keep him out until December.

Taj Gibson, who averaged 9.0 points and 7.5 rebounds as a rookie, will start in his place.

“You hate to lose a guy like that, but it’s also part of the NBA,” Thibodeau said. “You have injuries, but we have good depth.”

The teams split four meetings the past two seasons, with the road team winning each time. Rose averaged 25.5 points in the two victories at Oklahoma City.

Guard Morris Peterson is trying to impart some veteran wisdom to his younger Thunder teammates.

“James (Harden) said this is my 20th year in the league,” Peterson confessed. “He teases me a little bit.”

During a one-on-one drill Wednesday, Peterson put together a series of moves that took some time to develop but ended in a score nonetheless. Kevin Durant, with a wide-stretching smile, promptly declared, “That’s that old man game.”

“I expect some of those jokes,” Peterson said.

But Peterson, 33, has acquired his share of wisdom in his “old age.” His most recent lesson, one he picked up at his last stop with New Orleans, is one in which his young teammates should find value.

Peterson was the starting shooting guard for the Hornets team that took the league by storm in 2007-08, winning a franchise record 56 games and coming within a win of reaching the Western Conference Finals. The Hornets were projected to be on pace for a title but won seven fewer games the next season and were embarrassingly ousted from the playoffs in the first round by Denver. New Orleans is still trying to pick up the pieces.

“We went from being the hunter to the hunted. We kind of snuck up on people,” Peterson said. “And last year, I don’t think people expected Oklahoma to do what they did. (Going from) the hunter to the hunted, you’re always going to have a target on your back. You’re not going to be able to sneak up on anybody.

“And I think we learned a lesson about that when I was in New Orleans. Every team has injuries, so I’m not going to make that as an excuse. But that’s something I can pass on to this team to always keep us hungry. Let them know that if they thought what we did last year was good, we can’t be fat and sassy and get complacent.”

How well the Thunder is able to focus following a small taste of success could be a defining key to this season. The team won 50 games a year ago and came within a last-second tip-in of forcing a seventh game in its first-round series against the Lakers. Suddenly, the Thunder has become the darling of the NBA, with the national media wasting no opportunity to declare how dangerous this team is.

Peterson, though, remembered how everything became more magnified with the Hornets. Games grew more important. Expectations skyrocketed. The notch on general outside noise was turned up.

“It’s just a lot of different things that’s going on, and it can be distractions or you could choose to use that as a positive.”

Fortunately for the Thunder, there are at least a few elder statesmen to squash any potential cockiness and correctly steer player’s psyches this season.

“There’s been a lot of teams in the history of the league who have had a really good year and teams that have been projected to continue to rise,” said Nick Collison, who turns 30 on Oct. 26 and is the team’s second oldest player. “And for whatever reason that didn’t happen. It happened to me personally. My rookie year we won the division. We had almost everybody back and for whatever reason we never got back there.”

Thunder coach Scott Brooks said the potential for backsliding “hasn’t crossed his mind,” adding that he doesn’t think it will be an issue so long as his players work hard and prepare well.

“In this league, if you don’t respect it, it hits you and kicks you and throws you out,” Brooks said. “You have to respect it every day. It’s tough to get wins in this league. You don’t just step on the floor and get a win. I don’t care how talented of a team you have.”

Morris Peterson of the NBA’s Oklahoma City franchise joined current and former athletes from several sports Wednesday to tell a state House committee they oppose the current version of “right of publicity” legislation.

“The hearing went well today, I was able to address the issue at hand and let them know why I feel that 5964 should not be passed” said Mr Peterson.

They say the measure would make it too easy for video game and souvenir manufacturers to use their likenesses without athletes’ permission.

The bill’s supporters say it is aimed at protecting attributes of a personality that have commercial value. The athletes said the current proposal has too many exemptions.

The House Judiciary Committee did not vote on the bill.
—
The legislation is House Bill 5964.

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“Hey!” Cleaves screamed in the hallway lined with framed posters that promoted past teams.

“Mo!” sophomore Draymond Green responded.

Players come and go at all colleges.

Spartans come back.

They make a trip to the banks of the Red Cedar River to pop into coach Tom Izzo’s office and team up with former and current NBA players such as Magic Johnson — still called by his given name, Earvin, on and around campus — to take on collegians in the summer.

When the ex-greats can’t get back, cell phones keep the Michigan State basketball family in touch.

Izzo says that ranks No. 1 on his list of joys he gets from his job.

“Just about all of them have called or texted,” Izzo said Tuesday at his news conference. “Definitely a good time for me.”

On Monday, a day after Michigan State beat Tennessee by a point, Cleaves was making the rounds through the Breslin Center when Goran Suton knocked and barged into Izzo’s conference room with the subtlety of Kramer on a “Seinfield” episode.

“G!” Izzo said with an ear-to-ear grin, taking a break from breaking down videos of Butler to welcome a key player on last year’s runner-up team.

It was just another afternoon at Michigan State, where Izzo’s dream of building a family atmosphere and an elite program has come true.

Johnson put the Spartans on college basketball’s map in 1979 when he led the Spartans past Larry Bird-led Indiana State for their first national title in an epic game.

Cleaves, Morris Peterson and Charlie Bell — known as “The Flinstones” because they hailed from Flint — won the school’s second title a decade ago.

Michigan State will face the hometown Butler Bulldogs at the Final Four on Saturday.

“It makes me feel old and young at the same time,” the 32-year-old Peterson said in a telephone interview Tuesday night. “But most of all, it makes me proud that this team has carried the torch that guys like Steve Smith and Shawn Respert passed down to us.”

Johnson was in the stands in St. Louis, where the Spartans squeaked past Tennessee, and is expected to be in Indianapolis on Thursday to share his wisdom and enthusiasm.

Cleaves plans to be at Saturday’s game.

“I wouldn’t miss it,” Cleaves said. “It was our goal to help build a big-time program and it has happened.”

Cleaves was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of drunken driving in Mount Morris Township and jailed in nearby Flint, then released.

Defense lawyer Frank Manley said Cleaves drove because of an emergency involving his son. He says Cleaves knows he’s a role model and hopes people reserve judgment until more facts come out.

Every player recruited by Izzo in his 15 seasons as head coach has been on a Final Four team.

Michigan State will play in its sixth Final Four since 1999. UCLA, North Carolina and Duke are the only other schools who have played in college basketball’s showcase at least six times in a 12-year stretch.

If the Spartans can beat Butler and get past the winner of the Duke-West Virginia game on Monday night, they would have three national titles to trail just UCLA, Kentucky, Indiana and North Carolina in NCAA men’s basketball championships.

Izzo has also steered his players into the classroom, graduating 31 student-athletes since 2000 and 84 percent of players who completed their eligibility on campus.

The Spartans also get schooled in the summer, shooting hoops against Johnson when he visits his hometown of Lansing and other former college stars at what has become a state-of-the-art basketball facility in East Lansing.

“The pickup games get real competitive, especially because the old veterans foul us a lot and we don’t get any calls,” junior shooting guard Durrell Summers said with a chuckle. “It’s great for us. It means a lot to us for those guys to come back and take time out of their day to talk to us. It really shows that we have a Spartan family.”

Bell said he considers the Spartans who came before him older brothers and those after him little brothers.

“We have a common bond that I don’t see other guys in the NBA have with their schools,” said Bell, who plays for the Milwaukee Bucks. “We all bleed green.”

This article was originally posted by the Associated Press