Basketball Campers Enjoy Their Idol Time

Their T-shirts sweat-soaked and sneakers squeaking, 250 boys filed into the chapel at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks on Wednesday and took their seats in the pews. It was time to worship.

Shaq was here.

It was Day 4 of the Slam Basketball Camp--an annual all-boys event that’s come to replace the defunct Magic Johnson camp in these parts--and the hours of lectures and drills in the hot summer sun were about to pay off.

At the front of the chapel, under the stained-glass windows, sat Shaquille O’Neal, who had arrived in a green Bentley convertible while the boys ate lunch. He was larger in life than on television, the young fans whispered.

Then, one by one, they got to meet their 7-foot-1 hero, who for the second consecutive year was most valuable player of the NBA Finals in leading the Lakers to the league championship. He signed autographs and slipped an arm around each youngster as they posed for pictures.

In between, O’Neal made small talk, and the campers lapped it up. “I said, ‘Hey Shaq,’ ” recounted a beaming Dan Niel, 11, of Simi Valley. “And he said, ‘Hey, what-up, Dawg?’ It was cool!”

This is the third year for Slam, now held in 11 cities throughout the United States. It’s the second year the camp has been offered at Cal Lutheran. Each Slam camp is mentored by a professional player, said camp director Brad Ceisler. O’Neal mentors this camp and one in his home state of Texas.

For $550, each of the boys, ages 8-17, gets five days of practice and tips from 28 coaches culled from high schools and colleges around the country. And, of course, they get to meet their hero.

The promise of O’Neal’s presence drew campers from the Midwest and the South as well as local youths. Many of the boys were back for a second year.

“I want you guys to be leaders, not followers,” O’Neal told the boys in a brief speech. “Listen to your parents. Never follow anything that’s wrong. Be better than me. Continue to have fun. I love you all.”

O’Neal said later that he likes to discourage the sort of idolatry that so many people get swept up in, because it can limit players. “When I was young, my father told me to be better than Dr. J. [O’Neal’s childhood favorite, Julius Erving]--not to be like Dr. J,” he said. “I’m trying to teach them the same thing.”