When Grand Rapids, Michigan, native Tremaine Dalton started The Process Basketball in 2017, he had an inkling that he was onto something with the potential to be big. The story goes like this: With his own professional basketball career winding down in Australia, Tremaine was looking for something new. He wasn't ready to completely give up on basketball yet, but felt he "could do more for the game teaching rather than playing."
Thus, The Process Basketball was born. While he had been training fellow basketball players for years prior to launching the business, putting together The Process Basketball allowed Tremaine to see a multitude of future possibilities beyond the world of training. In the world of pro basketball trainers, he stands out.
These days, The Process Basketball is a three-armed beast: In addition to training elite-level players around the world, including Swedish superstar Kalis Loyd and New York Knicks shooting guard James Young, Tremaine is also known as the world's top one-on-one player and runs The Process Academy, which houses his youth and global initiative projects.
The Process Basketball really began with a request. Tremaine was still in Australia when he was approached by another player who was looking for a private basketball trainer. "A kid from China was in Australia, and he asked me if I would train him," he says. "That's where it all started."
It was fitting, really; The Process Basketball's logo contains Mandarin characters, or Hànzì, and Tremaine has a longtime affinity for both Chinese and Japanese cultures.
"I've always been interested in Chinese culture, Japanese culture, anime, stuff like that," Tremaine explains. "My original videos were based on karate and Wu-Tang — [I was] trying to make a bridge between basketball and martial arts. The same client made me 'The Process' in Mandarin."
The Process Basketball has made building programs for kids a part of the business all along. Tremaine and his team have hosted youth camps and clinics in locations as far-flung as Arizona and Estonia</a>; and they've also offered camps in Australia, France, and Ireland. Tremaine believes that offering youth programs was simply a must.
"I feel that youth programs of all kind — not just sports — whether art, music, reading, writing, are all important," he says. "I just went with my strength, which was basketball, and found that it can be used as a tool to inspire kids but also bring families together. Youth programs definitely kept me out of the streets, and I felt with this platform, it's my duty to give back."
Tremaine's investment in kids isn't just about basketball. His own experiences with domestic violence as a youth in part shaped his outlook on life; doing what he can to improve the lives of children around the world is a natural extension of that.
"Throughout my life I was always into community initiative work with families and the youth," Tremaine explains. "I would say my start was in college at the University of St. Mary, where I got the opportunity to work with Alliance Against Family Violence as a court advocate social worker.
"I grew up seeing domestic violence, and rather [than] allowing it to affect me, I took the opportunity to learn more about it, as a means to grow and heal from my own family experiences as a kid. Here I had the opportunity to observe and speak to victims, and have discussion on how to break the circle of mental and physical abuse."
Tremaine first saw how basketball can encourage and inspire children when he guest-coached with the Melbourne, Australia, organization Helping Hoops. Becoming a youth basketball trainer was a logical next step.
"I was helping kids with special needs, kids with Down syndrome and muscular dystrophy," he says. Tremaine and Helping Hoops also worked with refugee children from South Sudan: "I did free clinics, coming through and teaching kids how to play basketball, and getting them inspired to stay out the streets."
It turns out those camps worked. "One of the kids was hella, hella inspired by the camp," Tremaine says, "and he ended up playing top Division 1 or something like that, and going to a real big academy."
The Process Basketball focuses on two types of kids basketball training and programming: initiative and elite. Through its initiative programs, the program works with local embassies and brings together kids and families who are all experiencing a common issue or problem. For example, Tremaine's Estonian program was about a lot more than bouncing and dribbling; the goal was to help nurture peace and understanding between two communities and cultures that don't always see eye-to-eye.
"We brought Russian and Estonian families together hosting a number of basketball camps in northern Estonia," he explains. "The purpose was to promote diplomacy working directly with the US government, using basketball for global peace, bringing Russian and Northern Estonian communities together to bring peace and harmony to the border."
The Process has also deployed its initiative programs domestically. In July 2020, Tremaine returned to his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and launched a three-day program focused on reducing gun violence in the city.
"The Process Basketball has assisted the state of Michigan in cities such as Grand Rapids, MI, to help curb gun violence, bringing kids and families together," says Tremaine. "[We offered] free basketball clinics, while at the same time had speakers come in to talk about gun safety and laws. Along with All-In Sports, we went directly into the inner city as our mission was to slow down the shootings that have been going on over the last year."
The Process Basketball has also hosted international elite-level basketball clinics and camps for youth who hope to play basketball in college or professionally. Tremaine is one of the few Americans who have hosted a camp at the legendary Nike Pigalle court in Paris, putting him in the same company as LeBron James.
Tremaine Dalton's work with kids, families, and communities is far from over. The Process Basketball has several projects on the horizon this year. He explains, "I think sports has a major role in connecting communities on all levels. Sports, specifically basketball, is a universal language, and from my experience it has brought together people from all cultures, color, and creed. It also gives the opportunity to resolve social issues."
The Process is preparing to launch programs that will tackle global domestic violence and will benefit African communities in Australia. The organization will be looping in Swedish star Kalis Loyd to lead basketball camps for girls in Malmö, Sweden.
Ultimately, Tremaine has an intrepid, unshakable belief in the power of basketball to nurture and inspire kids everywhere, and that's what pushes him to succeed:
"I feel that basketball does wonders for one's confidence. It's a team builder but also one of the best sports for exercise. You can play the sport anywhere, indoor or out, and for the ones that are serious, it creates life changing opportunities."
