NEWPORT BEACH —
A 16-year-old wearing Grandpa's clothes is rare.
The garb isn't just any Grandpa's, though. It belonged to George Yardley, a Hall of Fame basketball player and Kyle Caldwell's grandfather.
Caldwell sports Grandpa's colorful shirts and worn-out baggy pants at Newport Harbor High. His basketball teammates don't mock him for it.
"His grandpa was like the same size as him and all of his clothes fit him," said Weston Dunlap of Caldwell, a 6-foot-8, 220-pounder, whose Grandpa stood three inches shorter. "At last year's basketball banquet, he wore like red pants.
"He wears khakis shorts, old-school flannel stuff. It's his style."
Like Grandpa, Caldwell's made his presence felt on the court.
Yardley, a six-time NBA All-Star, is no longer around as he succumbed to Lou Gehrig's disease in Aug. 2004, but Caldwell's carrying on Grandpa's legacy.
The man who used to sit in his wheelchair, battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cheered Caldwell and his teammates before passing away at 75. Caldwell's never forgotten.
"He came all the time even though he had ALS," said Caldwell of the fatal disease, named after a legendary New York Yankee, which is a degenerative disease of the nervous system that causes muscle weakness and eventual paralysis.
"Even though he was Grandpa, I felt honored, because he was in the NBA and he came to all my games."
Yardley's still around, the Newport Harbor court is named after the 1946 graduate. A constant reminder to Caldwell each time he steps on the hardwood. He still points to the spot where Yardley used to watch him play.
"Over there, near the home bench," Caldwell said. "But it's just a basketball court."
That's how Caldwell goes by his business. He's not as flamboyant as Grandpa was during his playing days, which included in the 1957-58 season becoming the first NBA player to score 2,000 points in a season.
Caldwell can score, too. He's averaging more than 23 points and 10 rebounds per game as a junior. During the Bill Reynolds Classic at Newport Harbor, he led the Sailors (5-2) to the championship game. Quite an accomplishment for a team with 11 new faces and only two returnees.
"He's a pleasure to coach," said Newport Harbor Coach Larry Hirst of having Caldwell make his transition to guiding a new team easier because of his dominating play.
