Matthias and Zach Klim both wince when they hear the question.
“If you could only play one sport for the rest of your life, what would it be?” the reporter asks, laughing at the look that comes over their faces.
Obviously, it’s a question the twin brothers have heard many times before.
The teenagers are stars for the GW Graham senior varsity basketball team. They’re also really good pitchers in baseball, already capable of throwing a ball 90-plus miles per hour.
Though they love basketball, they’d grudgingly agree to never take another jump shot again if it meant they could keep doing what they do on the diamond.
“If I had to choose just one, I think it’d be baseball because I think that’s where my heart is at,” Matthias says. “But basketball always has a special place in my heart because it’s helped me through some tough times.”
“I’d choose baseball too, but the memories I’ve collected here at GW Graham, and the life lessons I’ve learned are things I’ll carry into baseball,” Zach adds.
For the moment, the GWG Grizzlies are extremely happy the Klims are focused on basketball.
Matthias is six foot 10 and Zach is six foot nine.On the basketball court, the seniors quite literally tower over some opponents.
“Off the court, the best thing about being tall is being able to reach stuff on the top shelf at Superstore,” Matthias says with a grin. “The worst is always hitting my head on doorways.”
With a dad (T.J.) who is six-foot-10 and a mom (Michelle) who is six-foot-one, they were destined to be skyscrapers, and they seem custom-built to play the sport.
“Everywhere I go I get people saying, ‘Oh my, how tall are you? Do you play basketball?” Zach says, laughing.
T.J. was a semi-pro player in Europe and tells his sons stories about going up against Gheorghe Muresan, at seven-foot-five the tallest man to ever play in the National Basketball Association.
Both have grown up devouring highlight videos of all-time big-man greats Hakeem Olajuwon and Kareem Abdul-Jabar.
“That skyhook that Kareem had was unbeatable,” Zach says. “Having that one post move you can go to to get you points – guys like Hakeem and Kareem revolutionized the way the big man plays.”
Sports fans in B.C. have seen the twin thing before.
For 17 National Hockey League seasons, the Sedins – Daniel and Henrik – amazed onlookers with no-look passes and an on-ice connection that could only be explained by the idea of ‘twin telepathy.’
The Klim boys say they’ve got that too.
“We play this number game sometime called odds, and if we do it 10 times we guess the same number almost all the time,” Matthias says. “It’s weird.
The strange thing is that Matthias and Zach have developed vastly different play styles. But, just like Henrik Sedin was the primary playmaker and Daniel Sedin the shooter, their styles complement each other very well.
“I’m more of a pull-up, catch-and-shoot style while Zach is more of a slasher who can drive to the rim and finish,” Matthias explains. “So if he’s driving to the hoop, he has me open and I hit the shot. If I’m not open, I kick it to him and I know he’s going to finish it.”
Zach believes Matthias has the best 15 foot jump shot in the province.
“Without a doubt,” he says. “When I’m driving into the paint, if I can’t finish, I know I can get it to him and he’s going to hit that shot nine times out of 10.”
GWG head coach Jake Mouritzen had one of the most dominant post players in B.C. last season in Geevon Janday.
Now he’s got two.
“We have our sights set on a provincial championship run this season, and one of the main reasons we can aim that high is the Twin Towers,” he says. “They bring a dynamic force to the paint for the Grizzlies, and I’m super happy to have two of the most dominant post players in the province.”
With two and a half months to go in their high school hoops careers, Matthias and Zach share a singular focus.
“It’s about getting that championship because no one deserves it more than Coach Mouritzen,” Mattias says.
“I want to get a title for him so bad,” Zach agrees. “Last year we thought we had the team to do it, and losing to Duchess Park at provincials was heartbreaking. So we’re also trying to do this for all the guys before us who couldn’t quite get there.”
