"It's not just a job. We have to have fun with it, and we definitely do."
Khris Middleton is forthright when asked about the visible sense of fun and enjoyment among the NBA players on the opening day of the 2018 Basketball Without Borders Africa camp in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
Indeed, the smiles of the NBA players at the American International School in Midrand were every bit as broad as those of the boys and girls they had travelled all this way to coach and mentor.
The Milwaukee Bucks swingman has been involved previously in international coaching programs, in the Philippines and Australia, where he headlined the Basketball Without Borders Asia camp in Melbourne three years ago, and he says NBA players recognize the need to give back to the game that makes them headline attractions.