Thereās a good chance that if youāre reading this, youāve probably seen Frank Kaminsky dance. If by some miracle you havenāt had the opportunity, an introduction to his unique style awaits in several places online. The internet forgets nothing, as much as youād sometimes wish otherwise.
The quality of Kaminskyās dancing is hard to gauge. He engages each move with self-deprecating purposefulness, and each swinging arm and gyrating hip testifies to the challenge his size represents. Itās hard to look smooth at 7-feet-tall and 240-plus pounds and Kaminsky knows it.
Still, thatās part of the charm. He is the karaoke singer in all of us, a few cocktails too deep to care if youāre off-key or if anyoneās listening. Instead, heās sober and on national television, embracing each shimmy in a way most public figures, and especially athletes known specifically for their physical prowess, rarely would. He trips the light fantastic in size 18 shoes, and the carefree honesty more than makes up for any lack of skill.
It puts Kaminsky in a difficult spot, however, helping shape the lens through which his basketball career is viewed. Scan past stories on him dating back to his days at the University of Wisconsin, and youāll find them littered with phrases like āawkwardā and āgoofy,ā unusual descriptors of someone who makes a living playing basketball. That perception of the man nicknamed the āSleepy-Eyed Assassinā cutting a rug is hard to separate from the one who launched 3-pointers at a 36.9 percent clip, as he did during his four-year collegiate career.
Looking at Kaminskyās short NBA tenure is further clouded by reports that Charlotte Hornetsā owner Michael Jordan turned down a treasure trove of future picks for the ninth spot in the 2015 draft, where Kaminsky was eventually selected. The Hornetsā front office has swung and missed on a number of moves in their quest to bring the Queen City a championship. Passing up on a chance to assemble the building blocks of a long-time contender, as Jordan reportedly did, is hard to accept when youāre stuck dancingĀ in place.
Any appreciation of Kaminskyās solid contributions since is smothered by the pre-existing noise. The disappointed moans over what could have been underneath the question-marked box make it difficult to hear the easy-listening hits accompanying the 7-foot Badger grooving behind Curtain No. 1.
When asked about how the draft impacted these perceptions, Kaminsky wasnāt overly concerned with alternative realities from nearly two years ago. āNo, it doesnāt bother me at all,ā he explained to The Step Back. āIf anything, it just adds fuel to the fire. Iām notā¦thereās really nothing I can do about it now. Iām here and I can either make the most of the situation or I can sit there and think about people criticizing me for what could have been or what is not.ā
The response isnāt surprising. In the typical parlance of the NBA, slights both real and perceived are essential, providing the means to power through challenges related to basketball and not. But Kaminsky didnāt grow up like everyone else, both literally and figuratively. A blog he wrote years ago while at Wisconsin offers a candid view of what it was like to be taller than everyone, feeling āpicked on and ostracized.ā Friends were hard to come by; Kaminsky explains he didnāt really have one until he was in the fourth grade.
The sport was an opportunity to test the waters of socialization, the āmeans to meet peopleā as Kaminsky puts it both succinctly and innocently. After all, athleticism, if not extroversion, was in his genes: his father, Frank Kaminsky Jr., played collegiate basketball at Lewis University; his mother, Mary, was a volleyball star at Northwestern. But even as the younger Kaminsky excelled in basketball, it never defined him: ābasketball is not who I am, itās what I love to do,ā he writes in an entry from back in 2014.
What the sport did is give Kaminsky free reign to find himself, to develop that self-described āgoofballā personality. It provided the space where a gangly kid can be anything he wants and find the acceptance, both from himself and others, long denied.
Kaminskyās appreciation for basketball grew almost as quickly as he did but that didnāt translate into immediate success. He attended the Benet Academy in Woodridge, Illinois (just miles from where he grew up on Chicagoās South Side) but struggled to find his way on the court, playing as a 6-foot-3 guard that wasnāt the most adept ball handler.
But time passed and his fondness for the game became an outright love affair. Kaminsky put in the requisite work just as a growth spurt would have him entering his junior year six inches taller. He wasnāt one of the most sought-after recruits in the nation, still lanky and undeveloped muscularly, but there were enough flashes to make him an interesting project. After scoring 15 points against fellow Chicagoan Jabari Parker, it was enough to garner a scholarship to the University of Wisconsin, where Kaminsky finally found a home.
āThe best four years of my life,ā he says today of his time at Madison.
Wisconsin provided the perfect platform for Kaminsky to continue jaunting between the worlds of intense competition and self-expression. Days filled with basketball being played at the highest levels of amateurism led to nights in messy apartments shared with teammates playing video games (and occasional dancing). A team led by Kaminsky and current Houston Rockets forward Sam Dekker would advance to the Final Four in 2013, when the former was just a junior.
The NBA was a possibility at that point. The boy who had only played the sport to become accepted, the one who had cried when he was cut from his AAU team at age 15, was now a legitimate prospect. Heād have access to wealth and all of the perks that come with it.
Of course, heād decide to stay for another year.
He was, in every way, the big man on Wisconsinās campus and, as he announced to the world, āThe NBA can wait.ā
Kaminsky remains the most loyal of fans to his alma-mater. Sleepy eyes perk wide in describing his time there and words like āloyaltyā and āprideā invariably find their way into the conversation. At the time he spoke to The Step Back, the Badgers were still cruising through this yearās NCAA Tournament. āI love that school and I want to see them do well,ā he explained. āIām just always going to support and defend it.ā
Thereās a joy in his description that makes it difficult not to empathize with Kaminsky. One almost wishes that he could have ended his time at Wisconsin with a championship, neatly providing the storybook ending we love to attach to sports. Instead, that chapter ended unceremoniously and continued trending downward upon Kaminskyās entry into the NBA.
But the pen is in Kaminskyās sizable hands and he refuses to give up on success, no matter how likely that seemed when he was drafted. An adjustment was necessary but heās made it and keeps making it, growing as a player that, at just 23, is far from his peak.
āI think heās made great gains this year,ā said Steve Clifford, Charlotteās head coach. Itās been a rough year for the Hornets and for Clifford, who had always managed to adapt his teamās style and make the most of talent that was far from the leagueās upper echelon. This yearās group was arguably the best heās coached but has fallen short of expectations. Theyāve likely fallen out of the playoff race at this point but Clifford, to his credit, remained positive and upbeat, especially in his description of Kaminsky.
āReally the last six, seven weeks, heās really played well, by far the best that heās played,ā Clifford added. āYou know, obviously heās got great size, great feel for the game. And heās a good competitor. I feel like heās made really good progress.ā
Clifford dismissed the noise that accompanied Kaminskyās selection with a casual wave, water under a bridge. He sees only the positives when it comes to his backup forward, whoās seen an uptick in his playing time in recent games; Kaminsky has averaged nearly 14 points per game since coming back from injury in mid-March.
āHeās a good worker, a very committed player,ā said Clifford. āIām really happy with him. I think heās going to be a really, really good player.ā
Kaminsky himself plays down the gains heās made, instead looking at what still needs to be done.
āJust being more consistent,ā he said when asked what needs to improve most. āIāve just been up-and-down. Sometimes there just doesnāt seem to be a rhyme or reason. Youāre just in a funk and you feel like you canāt get out of it. Sometimes when things are going well, you feel like you can do anything. Thatās just how the seasonās been. Justā¦highs and lows.ā
Words like āworkerā and ācommittedā are hard to equate with the image of Kaminsky thatās most clearly etched in memory, in no small part due to the man himself. Youāre just as likely to see him knocking down a 25-foot jumper as you are to see him bathing in a tub of rainbow-colored Skittles candy.
That dichotomous nature makes Kaminsky equal parts interesting and difficult to confine. Both introverted and eager to draw attention, he remains a mystery. Effort has clearly been made to take the leap in his career but he eschews the label that being in the NBA is work. āI never viewed college as job. Iāve never viewed this as a job. Iām just having fun and doing what I love to do.ā
Charlotteās season is winding down but Kaminsky remains focused on getting better, disproving the doubters that clamored otherwise when he was child or in high school, at Madison, Wisconsin or following the 2015 Draft.
āItās not always easy to block everything out,ā admits Kaminsky. āBut you still have to go out there and perform. Thatās what itās about. Like I told you earlier, I love this game and Iām going to do whatever I can to stick around for as long as I can.ā
āPerformā is such an apt word for a career on the rise, one that has grown to love the spotlight, and is sure to include a few carefree dance steps along the way.