Adonal Foyle, an NBA basketball player with a total of 13 seasons under his belt, announced his retirement from basketball this week.
From humble island beginnings, Adonal’s basketball talent was discovered by two Colgate University professors who brought him to the United States and laid the foundation for Foyle’s NBA basketball career spanning both coasts with the Golden State Warriors and the Orlando Magic.
In addition to a noteworthy NBA career, Foyle’s passion to make a difference has fueled the founding of the Kerosene Lamp Foundation (KLF). Since 2005, KLF has built/refurbished basketball courts in urban areas to provide safe places to play for more than 3,000 youth. KLF’s most recent mentorship program, All-Star Student Athletes, is designed to turn promising young basketball players from Adonal’s native country of St. Vincent & the Grenadines, into successful student-athletes. Foyle was inducted into the Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame for his work with KLF.
“I have loved every minute of the game,” said Foyle. “Retiring is bittersweet as my happiest memories are with the game. I’m looking forward to spending more time on humanitarian issues and mentoring the young basketball players who may need a voice of experience as they embark on their NBA careers.”
Foyle recently completed his third and final season with the Orlando Magic. Prior to that, he spent a decade with the Golden State Warriors, where he began his career as the NBA’s eighth overall draft pick. Foyle holds the Warriors’ all-time record in blocked shots (1,140) and is fifth on their all-time list for offensive rebounds and sixth for defensive rebounds.
Adonal’s education continues beyond the NBA. In addition to plans to support his Kerosene Lamp Foundation, he is finishing up his Masters Degree in Sports Psychology from John F. Kennedy University. Foyle has written a poem to commemorate his love affair with basketball.
ADONAL FOYLE RETIREMENT POEM
LOVE SONG TO A GAME: NBA Retirement poem by Adonal Foyle
How should I tell thee goodbye?
What can you say about a love affair to rival that of Romeo & Juliet? This is not just some melancholy ode to a hackneyed love of mortals.
I found our love deep in the entrails of the Caribbean Sea. Love that swept me to a land where our embrace became mythical.
You showed me a world that few have dreamt of.
Colgate’s golden steeple, a sojurn where ancient teachings flooded my mind.
There in the Chenango Valley where 13 sang my soul to flight, basketball laid siege to my soul.
I do not cry for the passing of our love for it stands radiant while my brittle bones crumble through swift time.
I have known you by so many faces; I will spend my end of days recalling.
You have infected so many with the allure of riches and black gold. But I am not angry with you my love. For to a boy who was lost in the bosom of nothing you gave hope and home.
Like the flickering of a light we come and go without much fuss. So I leave you to fend off seekers, hoping they too will cherish your unyielding countenance.
As for me, I will forever live in the glare of your loving embrace. From time to time I hope you will look in on this pitiful fool.
I will miss brothers of a quilt struggling with burning lights. If I offer advice, pierce beyond the glaring lights and see the faces behind the wall. Don’t be fooled by the magicians’ nibble fingers. For this is a life with mirrors and screens. Its only truth lies in the understanding it will all end.
The sound I will take home is the symphony of thousands of screaming friends.
Warriors, Magic and yes, Memphis too, I sing you praise, hope, blessings,
Flowing from a boy’s songs of thanks to you and you and you,to all I knew.
Please stay my “immortal love.”
