Step into a baller’s paradise...Air West is that spot, illest of games, dopest of runs you'll find anywhere, every Wednesday in LA.

Period

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eC-i7XeXqg0

Press the Play Station button, fire up the NBA 2K, go ahead and have J-Harden and D/DeRozan be on the same team in NBA 2K.

Go to Air West on a Wednesday in LA in the summer, and you could actually see Harden and DeRozan balling together or vs each other in the off season. # LA Fam

Air West is Nike sponsored and co-founded by Keion Kindred and Chris Young. It isn't NBA 2K...PlayStation but it's the best open court game in the world. If Raymond Lewis was LA's best ever street baller, then Keion is LA's greatest street and league coach.

Period.

Air West is that exclusive spot, just as exclusive as NYC's Rucker/EBC Classic. Yes siiir. What is Air West, why do I need to know about it?

It's the brainchild of LAs "gatekeeper" and trainer extraordinaire Keion Kindred and Chris Young. A secret Wednesday locale where pro guys get like an hour notice, group text of where the gym will be.

Get yourself there, you'll get the best runs, true ball. As Keion says, "Air West is special. There is nothing like it around the world. I took the average pick up game and turned it into the greatest organized open gym on the planet.

“It’s a place where the best players come to play. From NBA to overseas and top local talent. It’s an exclusive club that everybody wants to get in, but your resume and game gets you pass the security.”

Rewind the tape to 1996, Kobe Bryant is ballin as a rookie for the Lake Show, I'm teaching 4th graders in South LA next to USC in 36th /Vermont, Keion is in middle school. Jelly Bean Joe's son is at the Venice Beach outdoor courts.

Kobe "ballin up" dudes because he wants to be like Mike, "Let me play anywhere, like the clause in MJ's contract." Except in 96, the future Black Mamba breaks his wrist ballin outdoors because playground dudes don't always know how to properly "rise up" with Kobe. That's not dope.

Fast forward to the 2012 Keion Kindred, coach deluxe from The Drew has this genius idea, along with his partner, Chris Young to start Air West. It's like when Steve Jobs says let’s make computers fun, Keion and Chris said, let's let dope guys get together and make ball safe.

So why is Keion more than a trainer, why’s he that next, next level human being, why is Keion the "realist dude I ever met?

He loves his job of training guys. They say that if you love your job, you'll never work a day in your life: That’s Keion Kindred.

Dude has major game as a trainer and coach, fantastically proficient, I can't imagine anyone being more successful at what he does in LA. Keion's last name is perfect, because he's a "Kindred" spirit to the game of ball.

Keion in high school for Dominguez was leading his team in 2000. That team had guys like Tyson Chandler, Bobby Jones, Darius Sanders, Steve Moore.

Keion was slated to be the next Bassy and LeBron. Everyone projected him to be the next "Take over" but God had a plan for him. Keion got injured, sidetracked, unable to play because of a micro fracture in his knee. He could've given up but that's not Keion.

He got to be the protegee of uber trainer Tim Grover and he learned to be that next level trainer. You can't hold Keion down, he's irrepressible, he'll find a way to befriend the game.

As one if the world’s most influential trainers in the tradition of Joe Abunassar, Keion is that guy that upcoming ballers look up to. Jesus Shuttlesworth types that hit up Keion for advice, just like Stanley Johnson did coming out of Arizona.

Keion had a legendary prep career in high school at Compton Dominguez where he won 1 National Chip, and 3 State Championships. Not easy.

That's why, when guys need help to navigate the mental game, because basketball is about confidence and just as psychological as athletic talent, Keion helps guys know the 1,000's of details that separate being a good baller to being that legend baller on the front cover of NBA 2K level. Everyone knows, you need to find Keion...hit him up for advice on how to get there.

As a player Keion knows what it takes to get there, but it's Keion's empathy bro, makes him next, next level because he has this gigantic heart for people. Keion holds a masters in Human Development from Missouri Western University. But he also holds a PhD in being a caring human to others...on the real.

How many guys does Keion work with? "Overall, I work with over 150 athletes, male and female. I probably have 2 or 3 players in every country at all levels. Notable players that Chris Young and I are proud they attend Air West are: James Harden, Brandon Jennings, DeMar DeRozan, Nick Young, Dorell Wright, Victor Oladipo, Jahlil Okafor, Devin Booker, Stanley Johnson, and JR Smith.”

How many LA coaches win The Drew League for many many years in a row, yet are just a couple years older than the guys they train? How many win the vaunted JBL...check that box...win the SPL...check that box. Those leagues are like more competitive than the ACC and PAC-12 because the talent needed to win there is ridiculous, ridiculous.

Stay tuned – much more to learn about Air West in Part 2