By Karrington Kincaid, The Seattle Medium
Rainier Beach High School has a history of producing great basketball players. From former NBA players like Jamal Crawford to Nate Robinson and Doug Christie, the list of Rainier Beach alumni who have played or are currently playing in the NBA is very impressive. Kaden Powers, a 6’5” junior guard at Rainier Beach, is hoping to add to the rich NBA legacy of the school.
By many accounts, Kaden is already on the right track to become a future NBA star, showing tremendous athleticism with a fluid and smooth game that cannot be ignored when watching him on the court.
According to his mother, Karen Powers, Kaden was a multi-sport athlete who developed his skills in the highly competitive youth sports scene in Seattle. Playing youth football for the CD Panthers and working his way through the ranks of the Seattle Rotary basketball program, Kaden, at a very young age, made a name for himself as an up-and-coming athlete in Seattle. However, Kaden decided to concentrate on basketball and hung up his football cleats for good.
“He started from third grade, doing some in-house [basketball] at Rotary, and that program has been so distinguished for so long that a lot of the kids that start in that way get produced through the system,” says Karen.
“I would say 5th grade is when he really started getting involved with the AAU part of it, traveling with the team, and at the time he was juggling playing football,” she added. “Coming into freshman year, during football, he had an injury in the summer which pretty much took him out for a year and a half, and at that point, he told me he wanted to switch gears and focus on basketball, and never picked up a football from that point on.”
Behind the scenes, a driving force for Kaden was his late grandmother, Bev ‘Nana’ Powers. According to Karen Powers, “Nana” Powers has been a huge part of Kaden’s life through both the good and the bad times, and she was very instrumental in helping him through the rehab process for his injury.
“That was his best friend; she did everything with him,” says Karen. “Besides myself, she is his biggest supporter. She would always tell Kaden to ‘always keep going’ and ‘remember who you do it for’—those key phrases he still uses to this day to keep him going no matter what.”
“So that put a chip on his shoulder; he played three games freshman year, and at the end of sophomore year, that switch [to basketball] happened, and he’s just been grinding ever since,” added Karen.
His mother credits the fact that Kaden had to idly sit by and watch his close peers move on to the next level and collect all sorts of accolades for their play while he was injured, definitely was a motivating factor for him to work even harder to elevate his game to another level.
“[With him] feeling like he’s kind of left behind gave him the grit to work harder, to get known and get seen,” says Karen.
Kaden has a ton of role models that he looked up to, including former all-pro MVP quarterback Cam Newton and NBA All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. However, it is guys like former NBA stars and Rainier Beach alum Jamal Crawford and Nate Robinson who have guided Kaden in the right direction to success. Their mentorship and leadership by example have been instrumental in getting Kaden involved in community service, which includes volunteering at Crawford’s Christmas gift toy giveaway and tagging along with his mother and helping her with charity work at the company she works for. All these things are to get his feet wet to prepare him to be that role model for the next generation to come.
“He likes to see people smile and feels like he’s contributing to the community,” says Karen. “I think it is rewarding to him.”
Kaden, who currently holds a 4.1 GPA average while taking IB courses at Rainier Beach, is doing his best to balance school, basketball, and his community service efforts. While he aspires to be an NBA player one day, he also has firm plans on getting a college degree.
“I want to go to college, and I want to go to the NBA,” said Kaden. “I still would want to get my degree, even if I go to the NBA now.”
Outside of school and basketball, Kaden’s life as a teenager is pretty laid back and simple. He spends most of his free time at home and focuses on how to be successful in the future.
“When I’m not hooping, I’m really at home,” says Kaden. “I mean, I play video games a little bit, but that’s really it.”
Most recently, the 6’5” guard helped his team secure an amazing basketball victory over West Seattle last weekend, as he scored 13 total points, had 5 assists and two steals. As the regular season is winding down, he and his Rainier Beach teammates look to continue their winning ways and make a push for the playoffs.