Jenkins Wants NBA Paycheck to Provide for Niece

GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Charles Jenkins‘ 11-year-old niece texted him recently asking for money, which he gladly gave her.

Kareem Albritton, Jenkins’ older brother and the father of Kemoni Albritton, was shot and killed in Brooklyn in 2001. Ever since, Jenkins’ has helped raise the girl.

He knows that if he makes the NBA she won’t have to worry about money for food anytime soon.

“Every time I step on the floor I always have a bad thought in my head of her not eating,” Jenkins, the former Hofstra star, recalled Thursday after working out for the Knicks.

“This is motivation for me to have the opportunity to at least get her a bank account so where she has her own money to rely on if she doesn’t have it.”

The Knicks own the No. 17 pick in the June 23 NBA Draft, and worked out Jenkins and Georgia Tech point guard Iman Shumpert, among others.

Jenkins is projected by DraftExpress.com to go at No. 28 in the first round to the Chicago Bulls, while Shumpert is projected to be taken No. 22 by the Denver Nuggets.

Jenkins, who came out of Springfield Gardens High in Queens, said he would love to play for the Knicks.

“Most definitely,” he said. “I definitely love the New York fans. For me to be the hometown kid is definitely a dream come true.”

A three-time winner of the Haggerty Award as the best player in the metropolitan area, Jenkins led the Pride and was sixth nationally in scoring at 22.6 points per game. He shot 52 percent from the floor, 42 percent from beyond the arc and 82 percent from the line. He finished his career with a school-record 2,513 points, second in Colonial Athletic Association history to David Robinson.

“For me, I think my advantage is my size,” the 6-foot-3, 216-pound Jenkins said. “I never have a problem getting my shot off.”

He compared his game to 6-5 Rodney Stuckey of  the Detroit Pistons, “just because of how big he is and his ability to attack the basket and shoot. And I think that’ s a great comparison for me because I don’t think he’s one of the biggest guards in the league.”