The primary time Trevor Ariza seen his son was completely different was in a fourth-grade basketball sport. After breaking down a poor 8-year-old with a single transfer, Tajh Ariza drove into the paint and kicked the rock out to an open shooter with a seamless behind-the-back move. “The timing was excellent. It was in stride. It was only a excellent move,” Trevor says.
It’s a typical sunny day on the west aspect of L.A. and Trevor, Tajh and Tristan Ariza try to see who can hit a half-court shot first. It’s been two years because the NBA champion and L.A. native retired, and in the present day, he’s again on the campus the place his basketball dominance started. Besides Trevor’s not the one in his previous white, pink and black threads. His oldest son, Tajh, is.
Tajh is at present one of many high 16-year-olds within the nation, and are available subsequent fall, he’ll be operating the gambit on the identical court docket his dad did. After ending the basketball season at St. Bernard HS, Tajh quickly after transferred to Westchester this spring.
Inside the varsity’s gymnasium, Tajh stands at halfcourt surrounded by a sea of pink, black and white, from the “Comets” branded bleachers and partitions to the shades of his dad’s unique No. 4 house jersey that he’s carrying. The light banners showcasing Trevor’s two state titles with the Comets cling proudly as father and son pose for flicks. Even on this second, Trevor’s affect is ever-present. It’s surrounded Tajh since he was a child, dribbling round with Kobe and Derek Fisher. Sure, he’s the son of an NBA participant. However Tajh Ariza’s sport is fully his personal.
“I gotta hold placing in work day-after-day,” Tajh says. “, my dad [had a] nice profession, however I need to have my very own title and present folks like, Oh, I need to be like him, ? So I simply gotta hold working so I can get there.”
The 6-8 rising junior exploded on the recruiting circuit and is now thought-about top-10 within the class of 2026. After his freshman yr, he held simply three main DI provides. Within the span of 5 months final yr, he racked up 5 extra. This previous spring he obtained an invitation to USA Junior Nationwide Minicamps, and over the summer season he was enjoying up with Crew Why Not 17U on the EYBL circuit. Issues are simply clickin’.
However the path wasn’t so simply laid out. Trevor let Tajh discover his personal love for the sport. He didn’t push, he didn’t nudge; he sat again and watched his son uncover their now shared ardour.
“My concept for him was all the time proper earlier than he acquired to highschool, if he was critical about it, I might give him all of the instruments that I take advantage of or the issues that I discovered to assist him. So I might say when he acquired critical—about eager to get higher or really work at basketball—was going into the ninth grade,” Trevor says.
Tajh agrees. He cherished the sport, however there’s an enormous distinction between loving to play and loving one thing sufficient to commit your self to five a.m. exercises, two-a-days and a grueling 82-game season.
“I needed to change my habits. Earlier than perhaps center college, I didn’t actually take it as severely. It was simply enjoyable for me I suppose. After all, it’s nonetheless enjoyable,” Tajh says, “however now I see that I’ve an actual likelihood at what I need to do and be nice. And I simply saved going. I simply took it.
Proper earlier than Tajh entered his freshman yr, Trevor laid out what it might appear to be for his son to succeed in his highest potential. It ended with a gentle but delicate reminder: It’s time to kick it into the subsequent gear. “I sat down with him and instructed him that it’s not gonna be enjoyable. Quite a lot of the time, it’s not gonna be straightforward. It’s gonna take a whole lot of sacrifice. And most children, once they hear sacrifice or take away enjoyable or free time, they sort of draw back from issues. Fortunate for me, he needed to do it. So it was straightforward,” Trevor says.
Within the yr since, Tajh and Trevor have constructed out a devoted plan. At the least 3 times per week earlier than college, they both elevate or grind by means of sand drills with Trevor’s previous Hoop Masters teammate. Working within the gentle sand of L.A.’s seashores is taxing, exhausting, unnerving—all of the above. However his explosiveness has taken off. “I began dunking on folks, in order that’s after I seen that it began serving to,” Tajh says. Off the court docket, he’s learning the methods bigger guards like Paul George and Brandon Miller create house off the bounce.
After a bathe, breakfast and faculty, Tajh will hit whichever program they didn’t do within the morning earlier than heading to the court docket for myriad of taking pictures and ballhandling drills. From the health club to the sand dunes, Trevor is correct there along with his son.
Tajh’s dedication is persistent, a mix of witnessing the skilled traits of his dad’s profession and the desire to carve out his personal legacy. Getting up at 5:30 a.m. to run in continually shifting sand is as a lot of a psychological exercise as it’s a bodily one. Whereas Tajh embraces the outcomes of his work, Trevor views it as a mile marker for a way far his son has come since their freshman yr dialog.
“It’s straightforward, for him particularly being so younger, to get the eye that he’s getting and sort of, like, be complacent and caught in that. And my message to him is all the time simply put your head down and concentrate on the work that you simply put in,” Trevor says. “Deal with the hours that you simply’re placing in, within the health club, within the sand, watching the sport, studying the sport, simply concentrate on that. Every thing else will maintain itself.”
When he moved from North Carolina to L.A. to attend Saint Bernard HS as a sophomore, Tajh says the discuss round his sport remained comparatively quiet other than the attract of his final title. That was till the start of the season when he obtained his first two provides from the College of Washington and USC. He’s nonetheless acquired the response video on his cellphone. “I used to be so excited. I used to be leaping up and down, yelling. It felt good to lastly get, , what I felt like I deserved. However it additionally simply motivated me to maintain going. [To] simply carry on stacking on that,” Tajh says.
Witnessing that pleasure in his personal kin is a pleasure solely a mum or dad can expertise. On the similar time, Trevor has come to curtail his recommendation even after an 18-year profession within the L that featured a 2009 championship with the Lakers and stops with 10 completely different organizations. The steerage he gives his sons is commonly rooted within the steps that he took in his journey to the NBA. And similar to their video games are completely different, so are the choices and selections accessible to them.
As Tajh prepares to enter his junior season and his youthful brother, Tristan, will get set to start out college, too, Trevor is aware of he can’t assume the roles of coach, dad and trainer abruptly. He must be selective and conscious of the hats he wears, and when he wears them.
“If there’s per week the place I’m heavy on, like, Clear up your room or Take the trash out. What number of instances I gotta let you know to take the trash out? I gotta ease up on what’s happening on the court docket, as a result of I’m exhausting on them at house,” Trevor says.
If Tajh is caring for enterprise at house, Trevor will drop some extra data. “However once more, it’s his canvas. So he has to color it the way in which he sees it. I can solely tweak little issues or give him little nuggets till he involves me for giant issues.”
Huge issues like transferring to your dad’s alma mater.
As he appears to be like up on the banners positioned by his dad a long time in the past, Tajh can really feel the goal on his again increasing. Lecturers are already flooding him with reminiscences of the varsity’s previous legendary battles with crosstown rival Fairfax. However the noise is simply that: noise. And as his dad walks down the halls that he as soon as occupied, he is aware of Tajh is able to absolutely stroll into his personal.
“I believe for Tajh, he’s all the time been round it. So, it’s nearly like second nature,” Trevor says. “He’s been across the atmosphere since he might stroll, since he might discuss. It’s tailor-made for him. Some youngsters are born to do sure issues. And to me, in my eyes, I really feel like he’s a type of youngsters that was simply born to be on this house.”
Portraits by Sam Muller.
