ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla.---

It’s a Sunday morning at Lake Brantley High School and the gym is full of high school kids dreaming of making the NBA.

“Get in, get in.  There you go,” Anfernee Simons applauded during a drill.  Simons is who everyone in this building is striving to be.

“It’s surreal that it’s coming full circle,” Simons said. “That I was just here playing as a little kid.”

The Portland Trail Blazers guard and Altamonte Springs native is running his second annual summer basketball camp.  The message he wants kids to takeaway from the experience is written right on the shirts everyone is wearing: Hard work wins.

“Working hard always comes with a prize,” Simons said.  “Doesn’t matter what it is, if you keep working hard, continuously being patient, you can achieve your goals in anything.”

Hard work helped Simons get drafted 24th overall out of IMG Academy in 2018.  It also helped him win the NBA Dunk Contest this past season.

“Just to go out there to have a goal to win it and achieving your goals,” Simons said.  “A lot of things came into fruition and I was very grateful for it.”

As much as he’s accomplished, he practices what he preaches.  Simons will be a restricted free agent after this season and knows there’s always something to improve.

“It’s going in there and working hard getting better at things I need to get better at,” Simons said. “And proving myself again next year.”

He wants these high school kids to dream big like he did, but it doesn’t have to be just basketball.

“I hope they take away caring for others working hard, and knowing that you have to separate yourself to achieve anything in life.”