By Max Goodwin
As a kid, Alec Burks would walk two blocks from his house to Grandview High School to play basketball in the gym with his older brother. Those memories came rushing back to him when he got the call that Grandview would be naming the school’s court after him.
On June 17, the Grandview School District held a ceremony for the honor. Burks walked onto Alec Burks Court holding his son Alec Jr.’s hand, with friends, family and fans in attendance. His parents, wife, kids and former coaches surrounded him as his signature was unveiled on the floor.
Burks has played 13 seasons in the NBA after being drafted by the Utah Jazz as the 12th overall pick in the 2011 Draft. He’s played for seven different teams. This year, he averaged 14.8 points per game for the New York Knicks in the postseason.
Since graduating in 2009, he has returned to Grandview each summer and held a basketball camp at Grandview High School. When Grandview won state championships in 2018 and 2019, Burks paid for championship rings to be made and given to each team member.
“I know what it’s like to be a kid from Grandview and the things that we don’t have,” Burks said.
His advice to current students at Grandview is that anything is possible.
In high school, Burks wasn’t a starter until his senior year. He never complained, and neither did his parents, Steve and Dina. Randy Farris, who coached Burks at Grandview, is regularly asked why Burks didn’t start from his freshman year.
“My reply is that he was this little tiny kid,” Farris told the audience at the court naming ceremony.
Though there were signs of what Burks would become. Burks went to middle school at a small Christian school. By the time he arrived at Grandview for his freshman year in 2004 as that little tiny kid, the middle school he had just graduated from had already hung his jersey in the school gym.
“They had taken Alec Burks’ jersey, retired his number and hung it up in the rafters at this little middle school,” said Steve Robertson, former Athletic Director at Grandview.
He didn’t stand out at Grandview until his senior season. That summer, he played AAU basketball for MOKAN Basketball and started to attract the attention of scouts from Division I college teams.
When he returned to Grandview after playing for MOKAN, the humble kid from two blocks down the street who had shown up a few years earlier as a scrawny freshman told his coaches he would be playing for a Division I team the next year. Still, he started that season coming off the bench.
As Burks gained a starting role, Grandview went on an unstoppable run that season in 2008-09. The Bulldogs finished 29-2 and lost to Chaminade in the Class 5 state championship game. Grandview sent four buses full of students and fans to that state championship game.
The next year at the University of Colorado, Burks was named Big 12 freshman of the year. He left college after three years and became a lottery pick in the NBA Draft. He’s become known for molding himself into what each team he plays for needs, being a good teammate, and his shooting.
“In the NBA, he’s a pro’s pro. Whenever he goes to a team, he fits in. He does whatever that team needs to be done,” Farris said.
Burks has inspired and supported Grandview kids throughout his success. When Burks was drafted, Grandview Head Coach Reggie Morris reached out to the newly drafted lottery pick. Burks began providing Grandview basketball with new uniforms, warm-ups, and shoes.
The relationships that Grandview teachers, coaches, and staff formed with Burks as a kid, with people like Mrs. Stevenson, who taught Burks and countless other students over her more than 40 years as a teacher, keep him coming back every summer. Burks still keeps in contact with her.
With his camps and contributions to the school, Burks says he’s just trying to play his part in building those bonds for kids in Grandview today.
“I just want to give that love back that I got when I was a kid,” Burks said.
The gym where he walked two blocks from his house to play with his older brother now has his name all over it, from the scoreboard to a banner hanging on the wall and now his name and signature on the court.
Burks says he’s in the back half of his NBA career now, but as he seeks a new free agent contract this summer after a solid postseason, his time in the NBA should last at least a few more years.