Former NBA player writes children’s book

Vincentian NBA basketballer Adonal Foyle has added the title of author to his list of accolades. With the publication of his first book, “Too Tall Foyle Finds His Game”,{{more}} the former Golden State Warrior says that he has accomplished something that he has always wanted to, but didn’t have the time for.

He got the opportunity when he took a year off from sports, his most recent gig being the director of player development for the Orlando Magic.

“I’ve been writing for a very long time, since college, and my friends always tell me that you got to publish your work, so taking a year off from sports this year and not doing anything, I thought it was a great year to start looking at some other things to do,” Foyle told SEARCHLIGHT during a telephone interview last week.

Foyle said that “Too Tall Foyle Finds His Game” is an autobiographical sketch of his journey to finding basketball in his native Canouan.

He said that he hopes that the book, written and illustrated for children ages three to eight years old, is not only an entertaining read, but would inspire children to have the courage to try different sports, and find the one that suits them, and that they enjoy.

“In the Caribbean you try a lot of different sports until you find one that fits you, and this book is about me finding basketball. I tried a lot of sports until I found basketball.

“Also what it teaches young people that there is no smooth path to salvation or to finding your true purpose in life. It’s really about failure, getting up, brushing yourself off and keep fighting the good fight every day, and I think that’s what my story is about….

“I’m hoping that younger people would understand what’s possible for them in the future, and that would be great if kids start challenging themselves to be better, and really start seeing what’s possible for them.”

The book, co-written with Shiyana Valentine-Williams and illustrated by Toni Pawlowsky, has received positive reviews from parents and children alike, on its website (www.tootallfoyle.com), as well as on Facebook.

Foyle said his next book will be on a more serious topic faced by sports personalities of all disciplines.

“I have another book coming out, hopefully, in a few months, called “Why Players go Broke,” he said.

“I’m really chronicling stories about athletes losing their entire fortune, and I wanted to kind of put that into context of what happens, how could this happen and what we can do to prevent it from happening to athletes. It’s really trying to look at a holistic way of looking at how players lose their wealth and what we can do to help them, by providing solutions and having other players talking about it.

“Being around sports and seeing as much as I’ve seen, I wanted to be able to talk about that and move forward with a project like that. So, hopefully in the next month or two, it would be out.”

Writing aside, Foyle says that he looks forward to coming home, accompanied by a number of professionals, for the 2013 edition of the Kerosene Lamp Foundation, to hold basketball camps around the country.

Foyle said that a small group will be coming at the end of July, which would feature a coach from the Michael Jordan camp.

“We’re also going to have an ex-Harlem Globetrotter, and we’re going to have a few other people,” he disclosed.

“We’re going to try some hardcore basketball and really utilize some of the people on the island, so that we can transfer the skill. We will be trying to do a lot more of cross- cross-pollination, because we want to transfer a lot of information back and forth, so we’re going to ask the people to volunteer from there, because that’s a good way to pass on knowledge, so that should be interesting.”

Foyle was drafted in 1997 to Golden State Warriors; he also played for the Orlando Magic and the Memphis Grizzles, before retiring in 2010.(JJ)