Tag: Amari Bailey

What advice has LeBron James given you …

Amari Bailey: And then off the court, …

Amari Bailey: And then off the court, just being clean. You haven’t heard anything about LeBron, honestly. If there’s anyone you could look at to learn how to be clean, and there’s nothing in the papers, LeBron’s a great role model to look at, just how he handles his business or how he conducts himself. People try to get under his skin. He plays the mental game within a game, and that’s something that I admire. And that’s what I’ve been trying to take with me. I feel like a lot of attention was brought to me at one time after my junior year, and just handling that was mental. All of that was mental. And just overcoming and learning how to stay sane through all the stuff that doesn’t matter.

Do you and Bronny James talk much about …

Do you and Bronny James talk much about dealing with all the attention at such a young age? Amari Bailey: Bronny and I are close. Honestly, I’ve learned from watching Bronny. Bronny has it worse than any high school kid, any kid growing up. Anything that he does is under the microscope. And I’ve gotten to study it for three years, how he handles it. He’s very mellow. He’s very chill with it. He doesn’t get rattled much. I feel like you can see that in me, as well. Let’s keep it candid. With my mom and everything that’s going on around me there, there are a lot of speculations. There are a lot of questions that you could have. And I’m just at a point now where mentally I’ve damn near seen it all. And everything now is like a new situation. I haven’t been here in any of it. I’m just going in, head-on and ready to work, honestly.

Bronny James, Sierra Canyon dominate St. Vincent-St. Mary at Staples Center

Bronny James scored 19 points as Sierra Canyon rolled to a win over LeBron James’ alma mater.

Bronny James showed his flair for the dramatics in his first meeting against his father’s alma mater, knocking St. Vincent-St.Mary off with a game-winning bucket.

This time around, no such dramatics were needed for James and Sierra Canyon team to defeat the Ohio powerhouse.

James poured in 19 points as Sierra Canyon rolled to a 71-53 win in front of a star-studded Staples Center crowd in the Chosen-1’s invitational. LeBron James sat courtside, while Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul also took in the high-profile matchup.

Sierra Canyon jumped out to a double-digit first quarter lead and never looked back, going up by 21 points at halftime. That lead grew to 25 midway through the third quarter and although St. Vincent-St. Mary eventually trimmed its deficit to 51-34, it was far too much for the Fighting Irish to ultimately overcome.

Sierra Canyon received standout performances from Ramel Lloyd Jr. and Kijani Wright, who stepped up and delivered with five-star UCLA commit Amari Bailey out of the lineup with a sprained ankle. Lloyd Jr. and Wright both scored 15 points, with Wright starting the game with an emphatic dunk to set the tone.

The manner in which James scored his 19 demonstrated the growth of his game since he first played St. Vincent-St. Mary in 2019. Instead of relying on his athleticism to beat defenders, James displayed a smooth three-point stroke and thrived in transition — much like his father — with strong finishes at the rim.

With James seemingly taking his game to the next level early this season, Sierra Canyon is in an even better position to dominate in 2021-22 than it was before the year began. Once Bailey returns, Sierra Canyon will have a chance to stamp itself as the top in the nation.

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Amari Bailey explodes for 35 points in Sierra Canyon’s 58th straight league win

Amari Bailey scored 35 points in Sierra Canyon’s latest win.

Sierra Canyon was without Bronny James, Shy Odom and Chance Westry for its highly-anticipated conference matchup with Windward High School on Tuesday night, but thanks to an explosive output from five-star junior Amari Bailey, the Blazers had more than enough firepower to extend their conference winning streak.

Bailey went off for 35 points as Sierra Canyon cruised to a 70-54 win in which it suited up just eight players. Windward was short-handed in its own right as well, playing without its dynamic duo of Dylan Andrews and Kijani Wright.

RELATED: Top 2022 recruit Emoni Bates decommits from Michigan State

Bailey immediately seized control for Sierra Canyon, scoring its first 14 points and all nine of its first quarter points to help the Blazers overcome a sluggish start. With Bailey firing on all cylinders, Sierra Canyon eventually found its groove and put together a 17-4 second quarter. By the end of the third, the Blazers had opened up a 50-29 lead.

Sierra Canyon’s win over Windward pushes its league winning streak to a remarkable 58 games. Next up for the Blazers is a road matchup with Crossroads High School.

Top Class: What is it like to be the first person to interview Bronny James?

Top Class director Tevin Tavares shared his experiences about what it was like to create the documentary series about Sierra Canyon.

In the upcoming documentary series, “Top Class: The Life and Times of the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers,” releasing February 26 on Amazon Prime Video, we get an intimate look at the raucous environment that followed every move of the most famous high school basketball team in the country. Viewers are also given their first look into what it’s like to be Bronny James, approved by the James family.

Top Class Director Tevin Tavares doesn’t take the trust he’s been given from the James family lightly. He knows just how special it is to be the first person to conduct an on-camera interview with Bronny.

“He’s guarded,” Tavares said about the James family’s approach to telling the story of Bronny’s basketball career. “That’s the one thing I will say that I respect about Savannah and LeBron, they make sure that they control the story. Because the amount of questions that reporters would ask him would be wild.”

Bronny typifies the experience for many of the Canyon players. They may have massive followings, but the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers are still kids.  

“I think he’s humble, he’s smart, intelligent, funny, he loves his siblings. He’s still a kid,” Tavares says. “But he takes the pressure so well. And he’s respectful. Every time he saw me and the crew he would say what’s up. He would always joke around on camera. Sometimes he would have the VHS, sometimes Bryce would have the VHS recording stuff. Good, good kid.”

But as Tavares conveys in Top Class exceptionally well, Bronny is one part of an incredibly unique moment in time and a unique program in the country. Sierra Canyon’s basketball team operates almost like a European soccer club, finding players from all over the country and even China, to win at the highest level.

But it’s also a high school, one which the kids like Amari Bailey point out, that is geared towards the success of their students by having small class sizes.

“One day these kids are in Biology class and then the next day they’ve got 17,000 people screaming at them,” Tavares said.

Among some of the more poignant moments in the documentary involve Bailey, who puts on a show when the TrailBlazers make their trip to China after reflecting on how incredible it is to have made it all the way around the world because of a basketball. At 15 years old. Tavares felt a special connection with Bailey.

“Amari is an Aquarius and I’m an Aquarius as well. We didn’t even know if he was going to be featured on camera when we started. But as the season went on and on, the camera started getting more of him and when we sat down with him, he’s so smart. And he was only a sophomore, he was giving me so many gems and I was saying, this kid is light years ahead of his age.”

Perhaps if there’s one constant thread in the story is the struggle these kids face as basketball players with more fans than NBA teams and also the desire to simply be a kid.

And for Tavares, 26, he still finds himself in awe of the moment he was able to capture because of what started as his 18-year old dream. He first got inspired to become a filmmaker because of the legendary “Ringmaker” commercial that Nike made after LeBron James won his first championship ring. That he’s now directed a documentary series executive produced by LeBron, featuring his son, makes it feel “full circle,” as he experienced things he’d ever seen before in sports.

“In Virginia, there was an energy there that was like a college basketball game and a Super Bowl. There was an MC. Like NBA Street type of stuff. It felt like I was at a concert. I played sports all of my life and I had never experienced anything like that before at an NBA game.”

Of course, the Life and Times of the Trailblazers were not all increased followers, adoring fans and a lot of fun. We get to see the not-so-great side to being the son of a superstar with Zaire Wade, but we also see the heartwarming moments when his teammates hold him up.

We also see the team at a time of tragedy across the world following Kobe Bryant’s death, including an intimate look at LeBron James during his first public appearance after Bryant’s death, at a Sierra Canyon game in which they honored Bryant. The team also comes to grips with having their opportunity to win a state championship canceled due to the coronavirus.

There’s been no shortage of coverage of Bronny or Sierra Canyon. But what Top Class is able to do is cut through the noise and bring you an authentic and artistic look at a special group of kids, who both belies the maturity of professionals but also the natural desire to still be a kid while they can.

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Bronny James and CBC fall to Air Nado after Jaden Hardy’s 39 points

Bronny James and his Sierra Canyon squad played against one of the best players in the nation in a great game.

Last night was a great night of basketball for hoops starved fans waiting to look for a glimpse of the talent projected to arrive in the NBA in the coming years. The main event was the showdown between No. 1 2021 recruit Chet Holmgren’s Team Sizzle against No. 1 2022 recruit, Emoni Bates, who some say is the best player in the high school basketball period. The nightcap featured Bronny James and his Sierra Canyon squad, playing as the AAU squad CBC to get around restrictions currently limiting school-sanctioned hoops, were in a classic against Air Nado out of Nevada.

While Bronny had some moments, both running the show as the point guard and letting it rain from the beyond the 3-point line, including a buzzer-beater, his squad was bested by five-star recruit Jaden Hardy, who had 39 points to lead all scorers for Air Nado.

Hardy, according to 247Sports, is drawing attention from Kentucky, Oregon, and UCLA.

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Bronny James throws down alley-oop finish during Sierra Canyon’s 76-66 win over Millennium

Bronny James throws down high-flying alley-oop finish during Sierra Canyon’s 76-66 win over Millennium.

Bronny James caught an alley-oop from teammate Amari Bailey during Sierra Canyon’s 76-66 win over Millenium on Saturday night and threw it down with authority for an emphatic slam. Bailey is a five-star 2022 shooting guard for Sierra Canyon who finished with 18 points and five assists during the victory that was streamed live on ESPN+.

University of Kentucky commit Brandon Boston, Jr. finished with a game-high 21 points for the Trailblazers in the The HoopHall West’s most anticipated matchup. Bronny James helped contribute to the win by forcing a defensive five-second count (50-second mark), burying a 3-pointer from the corner (1:59 mark) and finishing above the rim in transition on the pass from Bailey which is featured in the video below (2:35 mark).

Bronny finished with five points and three rebounds in 21 minutes of work off the bench. After hitting the triple from the corner, Paul Biancardi–the National Recruiting Director for ESPN who was also the analyst during the broadcast–said that LeBron James Jr.’s jumper is much more advanced than his father’s was at this age. LeBron would later agree with that point on Twitter by sharing the following.

“I hope LeBron doesn’t get mad at me, but I think Bronny’s jumpshot is a little bit better,” Biancardi said during the broadcast. In response, LeBron James Sr. said he could never be mad at facts.

“Can’t ever be mad at the facts!!! LeBron tweeted. “Flame thrower he has! And by the way I probably got the 3rd best jump shot in the household. Bryce Maximus got a cooker too!”

Zaire Wade was sidelined during the contest with a boot cast on his right foot. Next up for Bronny and Sierra Canyon is an epic matchup with LeBron’s alma mater, St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, on December 14 in Columbus, Ohio.