Pat Connaughton spent part of this week in Manhattan doing more than just showing up as an NBA veteran. The Charlotte Hornets guard was on the floor at Basketball City for the NBPA x Five-Star Basketball Camp, helping work with young players during a stretch that blended drills, games, and off-court learning.
The camp ran Monday through Thursday and welcomed players ages 9 through 17, with sessions scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The NBPA put on the event with JDS Sports, and this year’s edition marked 60 years of Five-Star.
Campers rotated through station drills, full-court games, and contests, while also taking part in financial literacy instruction and mentorship workshops. Five-Star dates back to 1966, and more than 250,000 players and coaches have gone through its camps and clinics since.
Connaughton’s appearance was shared on X in a post tagging the National Basketball Players Association and Five-Star Basketball. He’s not a stranger to youth basketball work, either.
The Pat Connaughton Foundation has been running youth programming since 2016, and its summer camp is held at St. John’s Prep in Danvers, Massachusetts, where Connaughton played high school basketball.
He also serves as co-founder and chief executive of Three Leaf Partners, a real estate development firm.
His involvement with the NBPA has grown beyond camp appearances. THINK450, the union’s group licensing and partnership arm, added Connaughton to its board of directors in October 2023, making him the first player to hold a seat there. Connaughton called the opportunity a meaningful one at the time.
"I am thrilled to join the board of THINK450," Connaughton said. "Since taking back our group licensing rights in 2017, THINK450 has served as an amazing outlet for players to take charge of their collective brand and grow in the business world."
The NBPA camp has also featured a strong list of guest instructors in past years. Jalen Brunson, Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle, and Bobby Portis have all lectured at previous camps, along with WNBA players Sabrina Ionescu, Nneka Ogwumike, and Kamilla Cardoso.
Connaughton’s on-court role with Charlotte remains a live roster story, too. The Hornets currently have 17 players on standard contracts and need to trim to 15 before the season begins.
Connaughton is owed $3.8 million, and according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto, that salary does not become fully guaranteed until Jan. 10, 2027.
Charlotte exercised that option in late June, as Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer reported.
His path to Charlotte has already included a couple of moves. Milwaukee traded Connaughton to the Hornets in July 2025 along with 2031 and 2032 second-round picks, while Vasilije Micić went to the Bucks. Charlotte then waived Connaughton on Feb. 5 during trade deadline week to open a roster spot before bringing him back four days later on a season-long deal with a team option for 2026-27.
Last season, Connaughton appeared in 42 games and averaged 2.6 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 0.4 assists in 7.1 minutes per game. He shot 44.7% from the field, 40.4% from 3-point range, and 65.0% at the free-throw line.
It was his second season shooting better than 40% from deep. Over 11 seasons and 637 games with Portland, Milwaukee, and Charlotte, he has averaged 5.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists, and he won a championship with the Bucks in 2021.
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