NBA player Gary Payton II runs the GP2 Foundation Elite Basketball Camp in Oakland with his family on the board. Beyond basketball, the foundation tests kids for dyslexia through the Mobilize Love program and gives away backpacks annually. His motto: Get it done.
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Hey, it's Gary Payton II. You're at the GP2 Foundation Elite Basketball Camp.
Welcome back to another episode of the Jim Ombay Show. We're with a friend of the show, Gary Payton Ii. And Gary, it's great to see you today.
Yeah, thanks for having me. Thanks for being out here. It's good to see you.
Yeah, it's great to see you. And I was talking with your mom earlier. It's really a family affair. You got family members on the board, so a lot of familiar faces inside the gym, right?
Yeah, absolutely. My mom and my sister, Kevin Fairbairn, or Tate, so it's good to have them out here and, you know, hang out with my family, you know, while we help out the kids.
Yeah. And it's pretty neat. I talked to your dad a few weeks ago, and he made kind of a cool point. He said how you grew up obviously in like Nevada, right? But it's cool that you came back to Oakland and you're supporting your family's community, right?
Absolutely, yeah. We moved around a lot when we were young, you know, dealing with my dad and bouncing around. But we would always, you know, come out here in the summers. He would get his work in, and we would come out, hang out with the family and whatnot. So, you know, to land back here in Oakland is, you know, just surreal and get to see the family every night come to the games and every time and do events like this. So it's nice to come back home and, you know, get to be around the family.
Well, when you're doing this camp, do you get any flashbacks? Like, did you go to any camps growing up or anything like that?
Oh, absolutely. Basketball camps, day camp, summer camps. It's just, it's great now to, you know, I'm older and I get to get back and host my own camp. You know, it hits a little different, but it definitely, all those memories flow back in.
Yeah, full circle, right?
Yes, absolutely.
Well, it makes you wonder too, like obviously it's basketball, but you teach more than basketball when you're at these camps, right?
Yeah, absolutely. Also, the foundation's about dyslexic kids with dyslexia. I was, had dyslexia growing up, so, you know, just to give them some tools off the court and on the court, you know, camaraderie and know how to work with others and help others and teammates and your peers that, you know, if you need help, that's why it's called a team game, you know, you can help ask your teammates and then you know they can help you out.
Yeah, and if anybody watches you play that's a fan, it's cool too because you're teaching good life lessons and one of them I think is to have fun too while you're doing it, right?
Oh, absolutely. There's crazier things going on around the world and you know we get to play basketball, you know, for a living, so I try to keep a smile on my face as much as I can.
And it's cool too because you guys give out grants, you're helping families in the area, so you're really giving back to the communities that you've lived in.
Absolutely. We have a cool little a program called Mobilize Love. They go around in a truck and help kids get tested for dyslexia in schools and community. We understand that it's expensive to get that test done just to see if you have symptoms. So go around the schools and community and, you know, give parents and teachers and schools, you know, free testing so they can, you know, see if they can do get scholarships for their kids going to school.
That reminds me, 'cause the slogan is Get It Done, And that's something you probably lived by, and now you're putting it through the foundation, right?
Absolutely. Just throughout my journey, it didn't matter how I did it, or— I had to figure out ways to get it done. So that's literally what I had our motto was, just to get it done whatever way. Find your own way, and craft out your own journey and path, and stick to it. And you're going to fail, but just get back up and find ways not to get knocked down like that again.
And it's cool too, because I've had a friend of yours and a friend of the show. I was wondering if you're teaming up with them to give out backpacks. JTA, another Oakland guy.
Absolutely. Shout out Juan, my dog. And make sure you guys come Come to the JTA and GP2 backpack giveaway before school. It's going to be a nice thing. We're starting to do it annually. So, you know, shout out to the JTA Foundation.
Well, when you're in there, it makes me wonder, do you take it easy on the kids? Do you kind of get some shots off or kind of show them how it's done a little bit?
A little bit of both, but more on the side that they got to learn, you know. You know, don't try to give them no freebies. Keep it real with them, you know, and not taking any prisoners.
And last thing, we got to plug your new water bottle company, right?
Supplement. Yeah, Supplement, owned by Jarius Morris, Black-owned company. He's been working on it since around right around right after COVID, during COVID It's a great company. Stay hydrated, trying to just meet hydration meets culture and, you know, just trying to make it, you know, fashionable, coachable, you know, just to carry around a cool water bottle, dope design. We can do pretty much anything we want with the bottle. So designs is not a problem. So mix and match, you know, go with your outfit, dress up, dress down, whatnot. But just more importantly, just to, you know, spread out the hydration. You know, you need hydration to stay hydrated. And, you know, you can have a cool way to do it.
I know the mission, too, is to help Black and brown families stay hydrated, right?
Absolutely. Yeah. So school, you know, when you go to the park, wherever, we got a cool little handle, lanyard. You know, you can just walk around, carry it. Closable lid, up and down, leak-proof. So it's really good, you know, just go out there and check that out, Selfmade.com, you know, and stay hydrated.
Is it in the basketball arena right now or?
Yeah, we got a few bottles.
Awesome.
Oh, absolutely, moving around. Hopefully next year we can give them out to the whole camp.
Awesome.
Yes.
One of my final questions then, I'm going next week to Edgewood to do the American Century Championship. So your buddy Steph's there. Just makes me wonder, have you gotten sucked into the golf game yet or? Absolutely, yeah.
Stef has actually sent me some clubs, so I gotta break them open and break them in and get to find my swing. I think once I find my swing, I'm gonna try to follow his lead as much as I can.
'Cause it makes me think, I saw your dad out on the golf course for Keena Turner's golf tournament the other day. 'Cause he's in the gym today, so that's safer than on the golf course, right?
Right, right, right. I don't think Gary swings any clubs, but everybody's trying to get him out there to swing some clubs, but he's on the field. He's the caddy. He's a caddy, yeah, he's a caddy. Well, Gary, it's great to see you.
Yeah, thanks for giving me some time, and excited to keep supporting you down the line.
