It began at a Vons supermarket on the corner of Fairfax and Pico
just on the outskirts of their neighborhood.
Though he doesn’t recall those days, his mother, Gwendolyn
Washington, recounts them vividly.
She remembers the trip to the market with her son when he was
just a tyke of two. While other kids asked for candy, there was
only one thing Arron Afflalo wanted.
“Ball.”
“Even though he could barely speak, he could point and say
“˜ball,'” Washington said. “It got to the
point where I would purposely go around the aisle to avoid the bin
full of balls.”
By the end of that year, Afflalo had a giant box full them,
different sizes and balls.
A Fisher-Price basket hoop – Afflalo remembers that.
“I’d get in trouble for making so much noise,”
he said. “My best friends and I would battle all night inside
a two-story apartment.
“My room was upstairs and we would be jumping around all
night and (my mom) just got tired of it.”
As a kid, Afflalo even played around with a 99 cent, suction-cup
rim that was in the shower. He progressed from there – a six-foot
metal extendable basket, dribbling on grass and dirt, shooting at a
hoop in the backyard of his father’s home.
That’s how an addiction began a career in the making.
Now Afflalo stands as one of the premier guards in the
nation.
His drive is unheralded. His work ethic is unmatched. But unlike
some athletes, Afflalo has not let success consume his essence.
“He has a good perspective on life,” said
Afflalo’s father, Benjamin Afflalo. “He’s a
caring person and a good person. I’m more proud of the man
he’s becoming than (who he has become) as a basketball
player. People are starting to notice that and I’m happy to
see that.”
His mom said it’s hard for her to admit, but 90 percent of
Afflalo’s life revolves around basketball. It may be
more.
“I love playing basketball,” said Afflalo, who still
has the first basketball his dad gave him. “Outside of school
there’s not too much else I do. Definitely nothing I’d
rather do.”
The streets
Government housing, otherwise known as “the
projects,” surround Centennial High School in Compton.
The name of the community alone conjures images of violence.
It is a challenging environment. For four years, Afflalo spent
his life there, seeing all sides of Compton, including the rough
one.
“There were fights all the time, a lot of gang-banging and
a lot of rioting,” Afflalo said. “It’s right
there in the middle of things.
“Living in Compton was definitely a character builder
though. It helps keep things in perspective about how lucky I
am.”
Afflalo says he had his own brushes with trouble but he never
got into fights. That wasn’t him.
It likely also helped that he had his parents and coaches around
him.
“I was always a kid in the gym,” Afflalo said.
“I was never in the streets where I had to deal with that
kind of stuff.”
His mother is thankful for it to this day.
“During this day in age, kids have trouble walking to
school,” she said. “When he was young, even though we
lived two blocks away from school, I felt comfortable walking him
to school. At Centennial, Arron said that if you’re an
athlete, gangs don’t bother you.
“I thank God every day.”
The father’s hand
Some people are happy for Afflalo, others are envious.
As his career takes off, his father has been there as a shield,
deflecting the negative influences and sometimes the media. His
father refused to let the media visit his home to protect the
privacy of his family.
Afflalo’s father keeps his family’s life low key. He
doesn’t want the limelight to get too bright.
Most of all, he doesn’t want his son’s head to get
up in the clouds.
“I think that comes from my life and how I was never given
anything or put on a pedestal,” Afflalo said. “I feel
that everything that I’ve gotten, I’ve earned. That
keeps me humble. Guys that aren’t probably as humble are guys
that are given a lot.
“I think if you work for things you understand the value
of it all,” Afflalo said. “That’s my mentality
right now.
“If I work hard and do things the right way then I can
appreciate it more and then others can take notice.”
His father has always been there for him despite his
parents’ separation when Afflalo was two years old. His dad
spent a few days with him each week, mostly on the weekends.
Until the age of 12, Afflalo lived with his mom in Inglewood.
She kept him focused in school.
“I got all the whoopings to keep me in check,”
Afflalo said. “She’s a reason why I’m not a
knucklehead.”
As Afflalo began to develop his game, his father and mother
began having differing views on the way their son should be brought
up. His mom was upset that her son was coming back so late from
practice. It was a constant focus of discussion.
“My ideas of raising a child were different than
hers,” Benjamin Afflalo said.
After a custody battle, Afflalo wanted to stay with his dad. And
his mother accepted that decision.
“He needed a father figure in his life rather than stay
with mom, grandma and his younger sister,” Washington said.
“It hurt at first, but it worked out.”
As an adolescent, Afflalo was already one of the top eighth
graders in the country. But, when he went straight to varsity his
freshman year at Centennial, he says there were struggles.
He didn’t start. He wasn’t a factor. His mind was
ready, but his body wasn’t.
“You can see Arron had all the skills but he was slow of
foot,” Centennial coach Rod Palmer said. “If you saw
Arron as a ninth grader you wouldn’t see him as a player.
“He was kind of pudgy, big and slow, but he got better
staying in the gym and growing into his body.”
Something needed to change.
“He finally bought into lifting,” Benjamin Afflalo
said. “Arron used to wake me up at 2 in the morning after
doing his homework and would be like, “˜Hey dad, spot
me.’
“It got to the point where he’d be lifting three
days a week. Once he started doing this he had a regimen and he
stuck with it. Nothing would ever get in the way of that. Once it
started, he saw the results.”
Afflalo has that special relationship with his father. He shares
it with him every day.
At every game he can count on his father to be right there.
In the same row, same seat, same section ““ 213B
“That’s everything. That’s what it’s
about to have someone truly care for you, that loves you, no matter
what goes on,” Afflalo said. “It’s a calming
thing for me. I know I can always look up there and my dad will be
there. There’s nothing more important to me than that,
outside of playing the game itself, that’s secondary right
there to see my father right there.”
Behind the scenes
Coming into this season, the bulk of the scoring rested on
Afflalo’s shoulders.
After waiting in the wings of graduated senior Dijon Thompson
last season, Afflalo has emerged as the Bruins’ leading
scorer and the seventh-leading scorer in the Pac-10 at 17 points
per game.
“I knew he could do some good things here,” roommate
and fellow teammate Cedric Bozeman said. “He just had to wait
his turn, especially last year coming in as a freshman when we had
Dijon here, he had to share that. But now he’s really
elevated his game in his sophomore year.”
Afflalo’s success has been in large part because of his
offseason work in the summer.
When he wasn’t playing in the Say No summer league,
Afflalo was conditioning at UCLA, both in the weight room and at
the Student Activities Center gym with NBA players.
“He’s a gym rat and he’s looking to be a great
player and that’s what great players do; they stay around the
game of basketball any way possible,” Bozeman said.
Asked if he can average how many hours he spends each day
working out, Afflalo paused.
Try five to six hours a day of technical work, drills, playing
against pros like Golden State Warrior’s guard Baron Davis
and Boston Celtics’ guard Paul Pierce on top of weight
training.
For the past two summers, Afflalo benefited from playing against
these NBA players.
“Oh man, that’s something that’s very valuable
to anybody,” Afflalo said. “You can pick up some of the
little things that can benefit you.”
Afflalo says he won’t settle until he’s the best, an
attribute that can be a detriment.
During one point this season, UCLA coach Ben Howland instructed
Afflalo to not touch a basketball. Afflalo’s former coach at
Centennial wasn’t surprised.
“His work ethic far surpassed any player I’ve had in
the past,” Palmer said. “He’s so self-motivated
and he went beyond what he did at school in terms of conditioning
and working on his game.
“I had no idea he’d be progressing the way he is,
but it just shows how hard work pays off.”
Palmer remembers Afflalo trying to find any gym he possibly
could. He says Afflalo’s mentality and preparation drives him
to shoot 500 shots in practice just so he can make four or five in
a game.
Ebert and Roeper
Few could really understand Afflalo. Most just didn’t know
what he was going through.
For a one-month stretch in January this season, Afflalo isolated
himself after a deep offensive slump.
“At times, I wanted to be by myself,” Afflalo said.
“Just me, the ball and the court.”
“It felt like a sickness. I actually got a feeling inside
that was discomforting. It was those one or two occasions where I
didn’t play well and we lost that really hurt me the
most.”
Afflalo is his own biggest critic.
He admits that he expects too much of himself. He believes he
can make every shot. He believes he can shut down any opponent.
“That’s what’s going to keep getting me
better, striving to be perfect,” Afflalo said.
Even the greatest of players go through slumps. But being a
perfectionist makes these slumps more difficult. What makes him
great at the same time is his ability to make sacrifices.
“He’s made terrific improvements because he’s
so driven and motivated and wants to be good,” Howland said.
“The thing I love most about Arron is that he wants to win.
He’ll do anything to win.
“He’s about his team first. And as a former player
and coach you’d love to have a teammate or player like
that.”
Coach’s Corner
Aside from his father, Afflalo has looked up to two men ““
Palmer and Howland.
“Coach Palmer is a guy that has pretty much got me to the
point where I am right now,” Afflalo said. “The
confidence I gained was through him. He taught me so much, he
stayed on me, kept me humble, made me really want to be the
best.”
Afflalo talks of Howland as a kindred spirit, equally dedicated
to the game of basketball. They both analyze the game to the
core.
Howland can recite the records and standings of every conference
team.
Afflalo, who was considered the top shooting guard in the West
by Prep West Hoops and an eventual McDonalds All-American, can
recount every shot, miss or make, after each game.
And like their dedication for the game, both have that mutual
trust for one another.
In his senior year of high school, Afflalo had a gaggle of
offers to choose from, but when Howland inked a contract as head
coach after the firing of Steve Lavin, Afflalo’s decision to
come to Westwood was a lot easier, especially because he wanted to
remain close to his family.
“I knew coach Howland’s personality and his
dedication to basketball; I knew that he was a winner,”
Afflalo said. “He’s just a winner in the field of
coaching in basketball in every sense.
“That’s all you can ask of a coach when it comes
down to taking care of his players because I honestly feel like
he’ll do that in a long run.”
Signing Afflalo was a key piece in Howland’s plan to bring
the Bruin program back to respectability.
“Arron Afflalo took a chance when I got this job six days
into it,” Howland said. “He was my first recruit. I
will always be thankful and grateful to him.”
As a freshman last season, Afflalo and two other UCLA freshmen,
Jordan Farmar and Josh Shipp, had to live up to expectations.
“For the past decade or so (the Bruins) have been at the
top,” Afflalo said. “I knew UCLA had been going through
(its) struggles, but that was the challenge of it all.
“That’s the challenge you take.”
Recognition
Afflalo digs deep on court, but he remains light on his
feet.
He can feel his opponent panting with his right hand. He has a
legal forearm check to his opponent in the ribs.
He has an unyielding look on his face.
It’s that same look that makes an opposing team’s
top scorer cringe.
“I want to stop every guy,” Afflalo said. “So
whenever I get scored on, I go “˜damn.’ It’s a big
deal to me.”
He puts the clamps on tight against many top scorers. In doing
so, Afflalo has attracted national attention for his defense.
Last week, Sporting News magazine released its picks for the end
of the season awards and Afflalo joins Duke’s Shelden
Williams, Florida’s Corey Brewer and Cincinnati’s Eric
Hicks for Defensive Player of the Year.
Coaches from around the league have recognized Afflalo’s
defensive prowess and intensity.
“Chris Stephens was defended by an NBA guy in Arron
Afflalo,” said Oregon State coach Jay John after the
Beavers’ game against the Bruins in late January. “He
did a great job in that he didn’t let Chris have looks.
“And it’s the first game that Chris has had that
hasn’t been a good game for him.”
But it’s not just his defense.
“Arron is definitely going to be an NBA player when
it’s all said and done because he does everything
well,” Howland said. “He’s a great rebounder,
outstanding shooter, and he has the ability to defend.”
Arizona coach Lute Olson has even taken notice.
“The funny thing is I thought he was their best player
last year,” said Olson earlier this month. “Maybe he
didn’t get the headlines that other people did. But when you
look at his total influence on the team ““ in terms of his
defense, rebounding, his toughness, as well as his scoring.
“I’ve been a big fan of his for both years. I think
he’s a very special player.”
Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said Afflalo has improved from a
season ago and credits it to his aggressiveness with the ball.
Arizona State coach Rob Evans lauded Afflalo after the guard
scored 17 points against his Sun Devils.
“He’s a good player. You’re not going to stop
a good player,” said Evans earlier this month. “I
watched him in the summer league. When Afflalo has a shot going
like that, he’s not going to miss.
“I have the utmost respect for Arron Afflalo.”