Vancouver urban Indigenous hoops teams win big at All Native Basketball Tournament
CBC
Kobe McKnight was living his dream of playing a championship game in the All Native Basketball tournament when he realized the Burnaby Chiefs were about to win it.
With only a minute and 43 seconds left in the game against the Prince Rupert Cubs, the shooting guard sensed victory.
With his cousin — playing for the Cubs — checking him, McKnight faked going right, crossed the ball to the left, and launched a three-point shot, the ball arcing in the air then sliding into the net.
"That's where I thought the game ended," McKnight said. "That's when it hit me that we are going to win."
The Chiefs pulled out a 81-70 final score to win the intermediate men's division championship, with McKnight earning the tournament's most valuable player award and other high-scorer honours.
The achievements weren't his alone, he says.
"All 10 of us accepted our roles, played smart and brought it to another level," McKnight said.
For the Burnaby Chiefs, the victory was a fitting end for a squad that has largely been together since grade school: it was the first tournament in two years after the coronavirus pandemic forced play to be suspended, and four out of five starting players are aging out of the division, leaving younger teammates to carry on next season.
And for them, losing the players will not only be felt on the court, but off it, too.
Fifty-two Indigenous teams from all around B.C. competed in the annual All Native Basketball tournament in Prince Rupert, which ran April 3-9.
Burnaby Chiefs' players come from different Indigenous communities across the province and country, who move to cities like Vancouver for employment, education and better opportunities.
Teams from Indigenous communities have tribal history, culture and generations old family kinships, all of which help create strong bonds between players — even for a city-based team like the Burnaby Chiefs.
Players spend a lot of time together on and off the floor, often going to dinner together after practice and games, and are regular visitors at coach Chris McKnight's home.
"There's a lot of mentorship that happens, a lot of camaraderie. There always will be," said Chris, Kobe's father.
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