LAKER TAKES GAME TO AFRICA WALTON HELPING OUT AT NBA CAMP.

Byline: ROSS SILER Staff Writer

Of all the roles he has played since coming to the Lakers, Luke Walton hardly could have expected that one day he would serve as a basketball ambassador to Africa.

Three days into his stay in South Africa, Walton had seen more than he could have imagined. The 26-year-old forward is taking part in the NBA's Basketball Without Borders camp in Johannesburg. The NBA contingent is led by Houston Rockets center Dikembe Mutombo, a native of the Republic of Congo. The instructional camp is temporary home to 100 of Africa's most promising players.

Besides working at the camp, Walton also has paid visits to two orphanages, which brought home the realities of the continent's HIV/AIDS epidemic.

``The thing about it is we get off the bus and there are a thousand kids running, jumping and giving us hugs,'' Walton said by phone Friday. ``It's pretty amazing to see how happy and how much they love life when as an outsider looking on you feel so bad for how much they went through.''

Walton said he was struck by how raw the African players were, even though they all have what he described as ``NBA bodies.'' The players had no trouble dunking, he said, but struggled when it came to converting layups.

But Walton said he could see marked improvement after only a couple of days and was encouraged by what he saw once the occasionally chaotic games started.

``You can tell that they love playing,'' he said, ``because when we start playing games, they're yelling and diving for loose balls.''

Walton said two numbers have been stuck in his mind during the trip. The first is the 5.5 million South Africans estimated to be infected with HIV, the other is the 1.1 million children believed to be AIDS orphans in the country.

On Thursday, the players visited a youth center at which most of the students come from families in extreme poverty and the majority are orphans. The next day, the players toured an AIDS hospice for young children.

``It's been pretty shocking to see that that type of stuff is really going on,'' Walton said. The orphanages ``were both in very poor parts of the city, but the people who were in charge were doing an unbelievable job.''

The camp runs through today, after which Walton will take part in a three-day safari. As tough as the realities of life on the continent can be, Walton complimented his hosts Friday.

``The people out here,'' he said, ``are the nicest people you could ever meet.''

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