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Hornets Guard Pat Connaughton Works With Young Players At NBPA Five-Star Camp
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- Hornets Guard Pat Connaughton Works With Young Players At NBPA Five-Star Camp
(Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images)
Pat Connaughton spent part of this week at Basketball City in Manhattan, working with campers at the NBPA x Five-Star Basketball Camp. The Charlotte Hornets guard's appearance was posted on X, in a message tagging the National Basketball Players Association and Five-Star Basketball.
Camp ran Monday through Thursday. Sessions went 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and were open to ages 9 through 17. The NBPA put the week on with JDS Sports, and this year's edition marked 60 years of Five-Star. Campers got station drills, full-court games, and contests. They also sat for financial literacy instruction and mentorship workshops. Five-Star started in 1966. More than 250,000 players and coaches have come through its camps and clinics since.
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Jalen Brunson , Rudy Gobert , Julius Randle , and Bobby Portis have lectured at past NBPA camps. So have WNBA players Sabrina Ionescu, Nneka Ogwumike, and Kamilla Cardoso.
THINK450, the NBPA's group licensing and partnership arm, put Connaughton on its board of directors in October 2023. No player had held a seat there before.
"I am thrilled to join the board of THINK450," Connaughton said. "Since taking back our group licensing rights in 2017, THINK450 has served as an amazing outlet for players to take charge of their collective brand and grow in the business world."
The Pat Connaughton Foundation has run youth basketball programming since 2016. Its summer camp is held at St. John's Prep in Danvers, Massachusetts, where Connaughton played high school basketball. He is also co-founder and chief executive of Three Leaf Partners, a real estate development firm.
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Charlotte carries 17 players on standard contracts and has to get to 15 before the season starts . Connaughton is owed $3.8 million. The salary does not become fully guaranteed until Jan. 10, 2027, according to HoopsHype's Michael Scotto. The Hornets exercised that option in late June, as Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer reported at the time.
Milwaukee traded Connaughton to Charlotte in July 2025 with 2031 and 2032 second-round picks. Vasilije Micić went to the Bucks. Charlotte waived Connaughton on Feb. 5 during trade deadline week to open a roster spot. He re-signed four days later on a season-long deal with a team option for 2026-27.
In 42 games last season, Connaughton averaged 2.6 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 0.4 assists in 7.1 minutes. He shot 44.7% from the field, 40.4% from 3-point, and 65.0% free throw. It was his second season above 40% from deep. Over 11 seasons and 637 games with Portland, Milwaukee, and Charlotte, he has averaged 5.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists. He won a title with the Bucks in 2021.
Charlotte went 44-38 last season and missed the playoffs for the 10th straight year, the longest active drought. The Hornets traded LaMelo Ball , Josh Green , Miles Bridges , and Tre Mann . Dennis Schröder came over from the Cleveland Cavaliers on Aug. 20 in a trade that involved five teams .
