PROVIDENCE — Saturday was the kind of occasion that David Duke Jr. I would have expected as a child.
Fargnoli Park was buzzing in the warm afternoon sun. The kids headed for the playground swings and slides or headed for the pair of bounce houses set up on the baseball field. Teens and adults searched the two basketball courts and waited in line for lemonade from the ice cream truck parked on top of the hill.
The current Brooklyn Nets guard and city native hosted his first community day just blocks from his former home on the campus of Providence College. It was exactly what Duke envisioned a few weeks before he returned to training camp and began his second NBA season.
“I would have been the first one here,” Duke said.
Folding tables were set up to give away backpacks and school supplies. Duke recruited his cousin and training guru, Calvin Jones, to help organize and manage the event. Burgers sizzled on a nearby grill as players worked up a sweat on the cement.
“I just wanted to bring a fun environment, not just for kids, but for all ages,” Duke said. “You see everybody here in the community — basketball community, Providence community, whatever. It’s been a fun experience.”
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Jones helped coordinate a 90-minute children’s clinic, as founder and CEO of the ERROR field skills academy, this was familiar territory. The city’s police officers and firefighters faced off in the next pick-up game, with a few jingles mixed into each team. Providence Police Chief Hugh Clements and mayoral candidate Gonzalo Cuervo were in attendance, with Clements checking in a handful of officers detailed to engage with attendees.
Bring the community together
“It’s good to see everyone come together and have peace and love each other,” Duke said. “With everything going on in this world, environments like this are hard to come by. But if I can do this, I would 10 times out of 10.
“I could be doing a lot of other things, but this is something I want to do. I don’t think I have to.”
Duke was able to draw large crowds despite poor marketing and promotion. A few social media posts and some personal messages sent to friends resulted in former University of Rhode Island guard Will Leviton serving as the announcer and former Classical teammate Kealen Ives as one of the two officials of the game Opponents of the plant included a pair of former state college football standouts: Stanley Dunbar and Lorenzo Perry.
“That’s part of the vision,” Duke said. “There’s no real answer or solution for what I want to do. It’s bringing the community together, whatever it is, it works. Do your best to create environments like this.”
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Duke has tried to avoid the business of basketball in the offseason, but even he couldn’t miss the ongoing soap opera surrounding the Nets. Kevin Durant is looking for a change away from Brooklyn and Kyrie Irving’s future with the franchise remains uncertain. They have been linked to trade packages involving the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, respectively.
“I knew it was a business, but I didn’t know anything about it,” Duke said. “It’s not too different yet. Obviously things are affecting me now that I’m there, but I’m just trying to stick to the most important thing: working out, working hard.”
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Duke was strong through five Summer League games, leaving Las Vegas after averaging 19.0 points on 49.3 percent shooting from the field. He added 4.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game while helping the Nets to a 3-2 record. Duke played on a two-way contract with Brooklyn last year, appearing in 22 games with the Nets and 13 G League games with Long Island.
“Let everything else take care of itself,” Duke said. “This will take me far in life and in my NBA career.”
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25
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