How Philly-born pro women’s basketball players Kahleah Copper and Keisha Hampton are working to inspire the next generation

Early Saturday morning in Essent Gymnasium at Cristo Rey High School, all anyone could hear were dribbles, directives, and that distinctive sneaker squeak that any basketball fan can recognize instantly. Coaches told campers to lower their stances, keep their eyes up while dribbling, and urged them to compete earnestly and diligently in a gym that would be full of hoopers from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

These were the sounds of the fourth annual 2K Skills and Drills Academy, a basketball camp focused on developing young girls’ and women’s skills.

Lest there be any confusion, the 2K in the camp’s name has nothing to do with the popular video game but is a reference to the first names of the creators of the camp: Kahleah Copper and Keisha Hampton, two Philadelphia-born-and-bred professional basketball players, Copper with the WNBA’s Chicago Sky and Hampton on the EuroCup women’s championship-winning Tango Bourges Basket of France.

Hampton and Copper were Sky teammates during the 2017 season, and the two friends decided to start a camp to teach the next generation of young women.

“Me and Kahleah got together, we were just saying [we’re] seeing so many things for the young boys and the young men in the city of Philadelphia, and we never seen too many people doing anything for the girls on the level they do anything for the guys,” Hampton said.

So in 2018, they launched the 2K Skills and Drills Academy to do just that.

The pair’s dedication to the event was evident. Copper, currently in the midst of the Sky’s record-setting season, had two games in three days and spent her off day on a plane from Chicago to Philadelphia.

She was late because of a plane delay but came straight to the camp — suitcase in tow — to make sure she could impart as much knowledge as possible.

“It’s important to show up,” Copper said. “It’s one thing to meet these girls over Zoom or send them something, but to actually be present, and for these young girls to see you in the flesh and be able to touch you and take pictures with you, I think that’s special.”

Hampton and Copper emphasized to the campers that basketball had the potential to change their lives by paying for their educations, even without becoming a professional player or going to a Division I school, as they did.

“They have something to aspire for, other than making it to the WNBA, because the reality is a lot of them won’t make it that far,” Hampton said.

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Copper was a star ever since her days playing for Prep Charter. She became a high school All-American before starring at Rutgers and being drafted with the sixth pick by the Washington Mystics in 2016. Her career got off to an inconspicuous start, but in the last two years she has garnered two WNBA All-Star selections and a Finals MVP award with the Sky.

Hampton, a star and Public League champion while at George Washington Carver, went on to DePaul, where she garnered All-Big East and All-American honors. Hampton was on the Wooden Award watch list before a knee injury ended her collegiate career. She has played mostly abroad since then and averaged 10 points per game in Tango Bourges’ EuroCup championship run.

Camp organizers know what basketball means to the city of Philadelphia and wanted to make sure they helped continue the tradition that had been paved by greats like Kobe Bryant and Dawn Staley.

“Basketball, for me, in this city, is everything,” Hampton said. “When people think of Philadelphia, they think of our toughness, so it’s important to keep embracing and embodying that.”

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The parents, some of whom stayed to watch the proceedings, were happy their children were getting the chance to learn from professionals.

“Something to keep them out of trouble and something positive,” said Keeya Davis, whose daughter attended the camp. “It went very well, very educational. I liked the key speaking points they gave.”

Reactions like that were exactly what Copper and Hampton envisioned when this camp debuted.

As the fourth annual 2K Skills and Drills Academy concluded, coaches and organizers alike left feeling jubilant about the event and happy about the impact they had on their community.

‘It’s important for us to come back into our neighborhood where we’re from with little girls that look like us and from where we from,” Copper said. “It’s pretty special, and we didn’t have anything like this growing up, but it’s important for us to create that cycle.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer is one of more than 20 news organizations producing Broke in Philly, a collaborative reporting project on solutions to poverty and the city’s push toward economic justice. See all of our reporting at brokeinphilly.org.