Note: Brandon Bass was the 2004 SEC Freshman of the Year and the 2005 SEC Player and Scholar-Athlete of the Year while at LSU. While Brandon is preparing for his fourth NBA season and his second with the Dallas Mavericks, his younger brother Chris is about to begin his freshman season with the LSU men’s basketball team (The Tigers open the season Nov. 15 and tickets are on sale beginning at $100 for 21 home games at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office or online at www.LSUsports.net.).
Recently, Jeff Caplan of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram took an inside look at Brandon Bass and with the author’s permission, LSUsports.net is proud to share this feature with our readers.
by Jeff Caplan
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
From the moment he arrived last year as an untapped package of brawn and desire, Brandon Bass’ practice routine has never wavered. On many days he even outlasts celebrated sweat hogs Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki as the last man standing.
Then Bass hits the weight room for a one-on-one grunt session with strength coach Robert Hackett. On many nights, the 6-foot-8, 240-pounder returns to the gym to work on his ball handling and his surprisingly smooth, high-release jumper, and a quick, post-up spin move punctuated by a ferocious, two-handed slam.
“A lot of times he comes back in the gym at 8 or 9 o’clock at night, and so you just worry that he’s on the court too long, that he’s going to wear himself out,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. “Hey, you love having workers on your team. He loves to play, and not every player does.”
After last year’s breakthrough in his first season with the Mavericks under Avery Johnson, Bass is anticipating playing a considerable role at power forward behind Nowitzki as well as at center alongside Nowitzki in Carlisle’s high-energy game plan.
Yet, for whatever success Bass experiences on the court, his ever-expanding list of contributions off it ? charitable work for children of low-income families performed often as anonymously as his first two seasons riding the bench for the New Orleans Hornets ? stands to be far more impactful than his NBA career.
Throughout the summer the Baton Rouge native made himself a fixture in Fort Worth and Dallas. He hosted free basketball camps for underprivileged kids who were required to write essays in order to participate, plus other fund-raising events under the umbrella of the Brandon Bass Reach Back Foundation.
“The people that know him, and I didn’t know him at first, but what a delightful young man to be around,” Mavs player development coach Popeye Jones said. “People still kind of forget he’s only 23 years old, but he’s very mature, very soft-spoken. He wanted to get out in the community and show people the type of person he is. He’s very giving.”
Extreme pair
Bass grew up like many of the kids he’s devoted to helping. His mother died when he was 10, leaving him and his siblings to move into a cramped house with his aunt and her children in a low-income, hard-knocks neighborhood.
He spent his adolescence carefully avoiding the traps that he saw snare others. At LSU and now as a professional, Bass hones his image, his reputation and his foundation work as scrupulously as his game.
“It means everything to me, because I want to be looked at as a great person as well as a great player,” Bass said. “You never want to do anything stupid. I always want to do the right thing. A lot of stuff that people are getting in trouble for today, I’ve seen it my whole life. I know better, so I try to keep myself in this small, little world where I don’t do too much but focus on trying to be the best that I can be.”
It seemed exceedingly curious then when troubled Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones became something of a partner at Bass’ basketball camps and charity events.
If ever two young athletes represented the extremes of instant wealth and fame ? from the corrupting, self-destructive influences that titillated Jones to the intrinsically altruistic desires of Bass ? this unlikely pairing was it.
Bass befriended Jones via Bass’ publicist, Linda Luna, who began to work with Jones after he joined the Cowboys. Luna believed Bass embodied the ideal mentor and friend for the beleaguered, 25-year-old Jones.
Bass could help to get Jones involved locally and begin the extensive repair process to his soiled image.
“If you hang with certain types of people,” Bass said, “certain stuff will rub off on you.”
Bass saw much of himself in Jones, who lost his father early in his childhood and, like Bass, grew up surrounded by unsavory elements. Unlike Bass, Jones too often failed to make wise decisions.
“What I noticed about Pacman is he is a nice dude,” Bass said. “I invited him to my camp and he came. Now we have a family that we are helping together. He actually asked me if I wanted him to help with that.”
Ashley Minor, 16, attended Bass’ summer basketball camp for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Fort Worth. Her heart-tugging essay describing the struggles of her mother, Tasha, touched Bass so deeply that he arranged with Jones to purchase furniture for their home.
When Bass found out the family didn’t have car, he decided to change that. Without media attention, Bass and Jones purchased the Minor family a reliable used car.
“The one thing I will say is his heart and passion for underprivileged youth is huge,” Luna said of Bass. “When he says he can relate, he definitely means that. He does things because he really cares.”
Impact on the floor
Untested in two seasons at New Orleans, Bass’ surge last season was the primary success story in an otherwise disappointing Mavs season.
Even in the five-game playoff loss to the Hornets, Bass demonstrated tremendous potential, upping his regular-season averages of 8.3 points and 4.4 rebounds to 11.6 points and 6.8 rebounds in the series. He comes cheaply this season at $854,957, the final year of his contract.
“The big challenge for him this year is he’s going to have to play two positions. He’s going to have to play the four [power forward] and he’s going to have to play the five [center] when he’s on the court with Dirk,” Carlisle said. “With what we’re doing offensively, those two spots are vastly different. He’s been coming in on his own every day to get extra reps. He’s been working diligently on it and so far he’s done a great job with that.”
Carlisle’s up-tempo, motion offense would seem to fit Bass well. Strong and muscular, Bass can also get out and run. His ability along the perimeter to move and hit 15-foot jumpers off the pick-and-pop, as well as being able to provide scoring punch inside and at the free-throw line, creates added diversity.
When center DeSagana Diop went to New Jersey in the Jason Kidd deal, the Nowitzki-Bass lineup was often the team’s most dynamic.
“It’s going to be fun to watch him progress,” Nowitzki said. “He’s got to follow it up with a strong season. I love playing with him. He’s tough down there [playing center]. He’s a good defender, he can rebound, and he can make a lot of stuff happen.”
Bass is proving it on and off the court.