The Sixth Adonai Hood Classic: Seattle Welcomes Home NBA Stars

There is nothing altogether like watching NBA players represent their high school teams in a humid high school gym.

In fact, Shoals estimated about 500% humidity…and we must have sat there for five hours alluring in a high school alumni game complete with music and a hype man, which at times made the basketball on the court teeter on the edge of irrelevance.

But we suffered through the burdensome conditions simply for the star power.

Although the Sonics have left the city, there is still a surprisingly strong NBA presence in Seattle as evidenced by the imposing list of alumni that have come from a handful of schools from a relatively small radius.

The Adonai Hood Timeless is a two-day tournament established in 2000 to bring together two rival neighborhoods in Seattle – the Central District and South Seattle – in a peaceable venue to help ease long-standing tensions. The tournament has now expanded to feature NBA alumni from four schools - Franklin, Garfield, O’Dea, and Rainier Bank.

This year’s tournament was played at the recently renovated Garfield High School gym. In addition to the high schools squaring off, the event features a three point up and dunk contest.

On Sunday, current NBA players Aaron Brooks (left; Houston Rockets/Franklin), Jamal Crawford (at once; Atlanta Hawks/Rainier Beach), and Nate Robinson (free agent/Rainier Beach) played for their special teams.