The Denver Nuggets forward, now healthy following a knee surgery, is returning to his old stomping grounds to teach the next generation.
Tyler Lydon was back on the court at Stissing Mountain High School Monday.
The Pine Plains student turned Denver Nuggets forward demonstrated for the estimated 100 children at his basketball camp the basics, such as chest passes and crossover dribbles.
That’s to be expected at an athletic clinic. But it is significant for Lydon, in that it’s another indication of his improving health, now sixth months removed from knee surgery.
The former Pine Plains basketball standout, who was chosen in the first round of last year’s NBA Draft, is holding a basketball camp this week at Stissing Mountain High School, his old stomping grounds.
The program was the brainchild of Lydon, his older brother Zach and close friend Justin Cooper — former high school teammates and current college basketball players — along with his cousin, Jereme Mergendahl, of Red Hook.
The camp runs 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. from Monday to Friday and offers basketball coaching for kids, grades three to 10.
Now these kids get to meet a 6-foot-9 NBA player.
Lydon’s first professional season didn’t go as he had hoped, though. He logged only two minutes on the court with the Nuggets and played mostly with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the NBA G League. That is, until tearing the meniscus in his left knee during a Jan. 24 game there.
Lydon, 22, opted for surgery to repair the meniscus. A removal of the tendon would likely have come with a shorter recovery time and perhaps would have allowed him to return before the NBA season ended, but that procedure would have posed long-term risks, his agent Andy Shiffman told the Journal in January. The decision was made then to have Lydon sit out the remainder of the season and return to action during the Summer League next month.
In addition to the months of physical therapy, Lydon said he used the recuperation time to strengthen the rest of his body. His weightlifting regimen increased, as did his weight. The power forward gained about 15 pounds and said he now weighs 230 pounds. Lydon has been playing pickup basketball games, trying to work the rust off and regain his form since receiving clearance from the Nuggets medical staff.
Lydon once dominated for the Pine Plains boys basketball team and, along with his older brother and Cooper, led the Bombers to a state Class C final in 2013. Their younger brother, Jake, also starred for the team this past year and he graduated from Stissing Mountain on Saturday. Tyler Lydon flew back to his hometown this weekend to attend the ceremony.
Lydon played for the Syracuse University men’s basketball team and helped lead that team to an improbable run to the NCAA Final Four in 2016. The following year, after his sophomore season, he declared for the NBA Draft.
Selected by the Utah Jazz with the 24th pick, Lydon was traded on draft night to the Nuggets, a team with a logjam of veteran forwards. The team also spent its first-round pick this year on Michael Porter Jr., a forward chosen 14th overall last Thursday.
Given the circumstances last year, Lydon said he understood immediately that playing time might be sparse and his route circuitous.
Lydon became the first Dutchess County product to play in the NBA in 46 years when he checked into a Nov. 20 game against the Sacramento Kings for the final two minutes. But, unable to become a mainstay in their rotation, he shuttled back and forth between the Nuggets and Vipers of the NBA’s developmental league.
His contract, reportedly, will pay him a combined $2.8 million guaranteed in his first two seasons and the Nuggets will have team options for a third and fourth year. Which means his upcoming second season will be critical.
In 15 games with the Vipers, Lydon averaged 12.6 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists. He shot 52.5 percent from the field, including 37.2 percent from 3-point range.
Lydon expects to play for the Nuggets in the Summer League, which runs July 6-17. The Nuggets on July 6 face the Minnesota Timberwolves at 6 p.m. in Las Vegas.
For now, though, his warmup will be at his old high school, giving instruction to local kids.