Ask Cayden Boozer when the final time he and twin brother, Cameron, had misplaced a event, and it takes a minute for him to keep in mind. He pauses, appears into the air for a second and ponders.
Eventually, the 17-year-old level guard phenom has his reply. He mentions a well-liked in-season event in Florida that his highschool team had misplaced the final two seasons, in addition to an occasion his highschool team had dropped in Arizona throughout the summer time after his freshman 12 months. They nonetheless eat at him, he says.
The one factor that’s exhausting to discover on the Boozer twins’ loaded basketball résumé is losses. The twins have received three straight state championships at Christopher Columbus High in Miami, a faculty that had by no means received one earlier than they arrived. They’ve led their AAU program, Nightrydas Elite, to Peach Jam championships (the largest occasion of the summer time) at the 15U, 16U and 17U stage, changing into the first team ever to sweep all three years. Cameron and Cayden every have two gold medals from enjoying with USA Basketball, first at the U16 Americas event and then at the U17 World Cup this summer time. And individually, Cameron has two Florida Mr. Basketball awards to his identify and a Gatorade National Player of the Year award.
Together, Cameron and Cayden have conquered the youth basketball scene like few others in latest reminiscence. Now, the sons of NBA all-star Carlos Boozer are prepared to take the subsequent step on their long-forecasted path to the execs: college basketball. The twins have dedicated to Duke, the similar faculty their father performed at greater than twenty years in the past. And similar to their dad, they've their sights set on bringing residence a nationwide title earlier than heading to the NBA.
“If that’s not our standard, we’re selling ourselves short,” Cameron says.
The Cameron and Cayden Boozer story begins at Emory hospital in Atlanta, the place CeCe Boozer was determined for an answer to assist her child, Carmani, who had been recognized with sickle cell anemia and was already experiencing dysplasia in his fingers and ft. A physician at Emory advised her about success he was having utilizing bone marrow transplants to deal with sickle cell, and the greatest probability for a bone marrow match is from a sibling. The Boozers didn’t need to threat having one other youngster with sickle cell although, in order that they went via the in vitro fertilization course of, permitting them to select embryos that have been a bone marrow match and didn’t have sickle cell. Two embryos have been a match, and each have been implanted. Those embryos grew to become Cameron and Cayden, fraternal twins born in July 2007. Three weeks later, Carmani had his transplant. He’s now wholesome and a college athlete himself, enjoying baseball at the University of Fort Lauderdale.
“The idea of ‘I am my brother’s keeper’ pretty much defines our family,” CeCe says. “That’s who they’ve been since they were born, blessed to be able to take care of their brother.”
CeCe was intent on the boys forming their very own identities, not simply as greater than the son of an NBA star however as greater than “the Boozer twins”. They tried out soccer, baseball, soccer, even ice hockey, so basketball wasn’t fait accompli. And whereas Cameron and Cayden have been all the time on the similar groups and have been largely inseparable, CeCe made certain they weren’t the twins in matching outfits that received grouped collectively into one.
“They’ve fought for [their identity] their entire life,” CeCe says. “Even though they did everything together, I made sure that they were both allowed to be their own person.”
That was particularly necessary as their basketball careers began to take off. The summer time after his freshman 12 months of highschool, Cameron was invited to the NBPA Top 100 camp, attended by various NBA scouts and even a couple of decision-makers in entrance workplaces. Despite enjoying towards older gamers at simply 14 years outdated, Cam shined at the camp, wowing college coaches and NBA groups together with his polish and productiveness at the ahead place. From then on, one NBA scout advised Sports Illustrated this summer time, scouts have been paying extra-close consideration to the Boozers and the remainder of the 2025 highschool class, even when it meant watching 15- and 16-year-olds play as an alternative of prospects far nearer to the NBA. He was shortly pegged as a generational prospect and a possible excessive decide in the NBA draft, even when that draft was practically 4 years away.
Watching all the reward be heaped on his brother might have been exhausting for Cayden, the smaller brother at 6’4” who wasn’t anointed a future star as shortly. But CeCe says Cayden dealt with his brother’s smashing success with “so much grace and positivity” and finally, Cayden established himself as an elite prospect in his personal proper. Few highschool level guards management the ground in the similar manner Cayden does: He dictates tempo masterfully, manipulates defenses together with his eyes and by no means will get sped up. He’s an elite passer, main the Nike EYBL circuit in assists every of the final two summers, and his three-point shot has proven continued enchancment. Plus, wins are a degree guard’s stat in largely the similar manner they are a quarterback’s stat, and nobody has received extra in youth basketball than Cayden Boozer. He will not be recurrently thrown round in No. 1 decide conversations the manner Cameron is, however his five-star standing has been effectively earned.
“I never really thought of it as ‘I’m just the other brother,’ Cayden says. “I knew I was a good player and I’ve tried to become better each and every year. Thankfully, I’ve gotten a lot better since my freshman year and I’ve gotten the attention I didn’t get before.”
Cameron isn’t the first prospect to be labeled a future NBA star earlier than he might drive, particularly in the social media space. Many stagnate of their bodily improvement; others get wide-eyed with their newfound fame and lose sight of what received them there. None of that has occurred with the taller Boozer twin, who's 6’9”. That’s the place the maturity of being raised round NBA stars comes into play: There’s no sense that the twins have “made it” but.
“Being surrounded by a basketball family that has been through the entire journey and continues to be in this business, you tend to look at things from a very different perspective,” CeCe says. “I think a lot of people, especially in the high school journey, get really caught up in the hype of the moment. [Cameron and Cayden] knew from the beginning that this is not the ultimate moment.
“There are a lot of players that plateau in high school,” Cameron says. “My biggest thing is not being one of those guys.”
Cameron has the drive of a budding famous person. His mother describes him as “stoic” and “serious,” not precisely the conventional adjectives to use for a 17-year-old. Without Cayden, the “loud and rambunctious” twin, CeCe says Cameron “would probably never go to the movies or do regular kid things.” At 17, he’s already pondering greater than simply basketball stardom, saying he’s “not doing the right things” if he’s solely identified for his on-court exploits with sights set on making an influence on folks with particular wants and psychological well being points earlier than he’s accomplished.
That character interprets virtually to his demeanor on the ground: He’s unflappable, if not virtually robotic at instances together with his quiet dominance. His recreation isn’t designed for Instagram likes, although spotlight reels of him and his brother taking on video games do lots effectively on the platform. There’s little wasted movement, no drama, simply manufacturing and wins. There’s a comparability to be made between him and his father—lengthy a non-nonsense man whose numbers have been louder than his spotlight reels—although Cameron’s ceiling is increased. Perhaps the greatest phrase to describe teenage Cameron Boozer is inevitable: Suit up towards him, and he'll win… and doubtless tally 20+ factors and 10+ rebounds in the course of. In the inexact science of evaluating highschool basketball expertise, Cameron is as shut to a certain factor as there may be.
And but Boozer proper now's listed as the No. 2 participant in his highschool class in the 247Sports composite rankings, behind wing AJ Dybantsa from Massachusetts. Does that trouble Cameron? Not outwardly, at least. He rolled his eyes when his brother was requested to current the case for him as No. 1 in the class, and when requested about it himself he gave his personal “rankings don’t really mean much” spiel that may make an old-school college coach proud.
The exterior stress and expectations received’t fade any by selecting Duke, maybe the college recreation’s largest model. Plus, the twins could have to cope with the added stress of strolling in the footsteps of their father, who scored greater than 1,500 factors and went a mixed 95–13 in three seasons enjoying for Mike Krzyzewski. That stated, these accolades didn’t imply this recruitment was all the time wired for the Blue Devils; the determination got here down to the wire between Duke and the twins’ hometown faculty in Miami.
“What [Carlos] has done at Duke, of course it means something, but for us in terms of recruiting and going through everything, it didn’t mean anything at all,” Cameron Boozer says.
Staying collectively for college wasn’t all the time assured (the twins expressed willingness to cut up up if the proper scenario for every was somewhere else), however largely discovered themselves in settlement as they labored via their college choices. That was music to the ears of CeCe, who joked she “secretly [had] fingers crossed” that the twins would stick collectively for yet one more cease on their basketball journey. But subsequent 12 months at Duke could possibly be the final time Cameron and Cayden team up, at least for some time, provided that they’ll haven't any management of the place they’re drafted into the NBA.
“Since I’ve always had my brother by my side, I’ve known that I can get through anything because I’ve always had someone I can trust,” Cayden says. “I won’t be able to have that if we’re not on the same team in the NBA, which is probably unlikely, but I’m going to savor these moments while they last.”
Before that final dance as twin teammates, Cameron and Cayden will spend this 12 months centered on cementing their highschool legacies by successful a fourth straight state championship. Well, that and video video games: Cameron, Cayden and Carmani are very invested of their NBA 2K MyProfession that they play collectively.
“We’re pretty good,” Cayden says. “We don’t lose that often, I’ll just say that.”
Somehow, that isn’t a shock.
