Jackson Park Jam To Spotlight Local Hoopers, Dedicate Courts To Kobe Bryant Saturday

WOODLAWN — Local basketball talent will star in a free South Side skills camp and tournament this weekend, and the courts which will host the event are set to be dedicated to late NBA legend Kobe Bryant.

Park Jam is 2-10 p.m. Saturday at the Jackson Park basketball courts, northwest of the Hayes Drive and DuSable Lake Shore Drive intersection.

The festival is organized by Operation Basketball, a youth basketball nonprofit founded in 2021. The event’s schedule:

• Youth basketball clinics, featuring skills training led by coaches and professional players: 2-3:30 p.m.
• A court dedication ceremony: 3:30-4 p.m.
• A single-elimination basketball tournament: 4-8 p.m.
• A 3-point contest: 8-9 p.m.
• A dunk contest: 9-10 p.m.

Winners of the 3-point and dunk contests win $300 each. Beyond the basketball events, the Park Jam features school supply giveaways, free food and drinks from food trucks, music and more.

The event is free to attend, while slots for most basketball competitions have been filled. Dunk contest slots were still available as of Thursday afternoon. To participate in the dunk contest or learn more about the Park Jam, click here.

“We’ll see if I still got a little game left,” Ald. Desmon Yancy (5th) said when asked if he’ll hit the court Saturday.

Yancy is hosting the event with Cook County Commissioner Bill Lowry, who alongside NBA referee and Hales Franciscan High School alumnus James Capers Jr. pushed to renovate the Jackson Park courts last year, Yancy said.

The courts will be dedicated to Bryant at Saturday’s event, which falls on 8/24/24. The Los Angeles Lakers star wore number 8 from his rookie year in 1996 until 2006, then switched to number 24, which he wore until his 2016 retirement.

The Hall of Famer and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna “Gigi” Bryant, were among eight people who died in a 2020 helicopter crash.

The Jackson Park courts were renovated and reopened in November with support from the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation, named after the late Bryants’ nicknames.

“I always thought [Bryant] was an amazing basketball player,” Yancy said. “I still call [Michael] Jordan the G.O.A.T., but Kobe, in the time that he played, was just as influential of a player.”

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