GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Just yesterday, a shooting in the neighborhood surrounding Martin Luther King Park left two people dead.
But at the park today a renewed dedication to the future of young people in Grand Rapids is on full display.
It's here at MLK Park where Grand Rapids native and Michigan State Spartan Marcus Bingham Jr. made a stop today before he enters NBA Draft tonight, because it's here at King Park where it all began for him.
"It's simple, really," said Bingham Jr. "One ball, two hoops, and kids to play the game. It’s just a beautiful thing. To bring the community together. These kids. Something for them this summer,”
But what you're seeing at MLK Park is about more than basketball- it's a legacy continued.
"This is where I grew up, this is where I learned to shoot a ball at," said Bingham Jr. "This is where it all started at. I'm telling you. Every day. "
It's his past here at MLK Park that means so much. This is the place where Marcus Bingham Sr. took his kids, Marcus and Mykel, to play as kids. The sport kept them both out of trouble.
Now, inspired to make sure the support that carried Marcus through in his younger years is there for other Grand Rapids kids.
"He's starting something that we all dreamed of. Bringing back the league that I grew up playing in," said Jermain Carter, the coach who is bringing back a legacy summer league.
Now, the start of that is complicated.
"We ended up having a massive amount of kids that wanted to get in at the end," said Carter.
But it starts with something simple, with people who care, on a mission for more than one success story.
"When I look at it, it brings back memories for sure," said Bingham Jr.
The summer league at MLK Park will run through August, and they need helping running things. To help, email Jcarter@grurbanleague.org
