CHICAGO - Basketball saved Pat Beverley.

The Rockets guard swears by the sport - the one he grew up playing on outdoor courts in Chicago.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Beverley could be found on one of many blacktop courts around K-Town - a neighborhood on Chicago's west side.

On those courts, Beverley found his love for all things basketball - the excitement of making a shot, the joy that comes from grabbing a steal, the satisfaction of dribbling alone on the asphalt, taking shot after shot.

"He could stay out there for hours," his mother Lisa said. "I would go out and have to yell at him to come in. At night, the shooting started and he couldn't stay out there."

K-Town - aptly named because most of the streets start with the letter K - wasn't the safest neighborhood. Drive-by shootings, usually stemming from drug deals, were common.

Lisa, a single mother, considered moving away. She put Pat in a school in the suburbs for a year. But he eventually came back his sophomore year and played for Marshall Metropolitan High School.

It was that year, in a game against rival Carver High School that Lisa realized that basketball was much more than a hobby for her son.

"They had to get him a police escort," Lisa said. "That's how heated it was. That's how much the other team hated him.

"That's when I knew he was really good at basketball."

Rare high school talent

Pat smiles at that and other memories of his playing days at Marshall.

Known for being an elusive scorer for the Commandos - yes, the same Pat Beverley who thrives on his defensive prowess - Pat was targeted by every team.

"Coaches game-planned against him," his high school coach Lamont Bryant said. "We always knew they would try to stop Patrick."

He was among the top players in the city - along with guys like Derrick Rose from a rival high school and Sherron Collins.

Marshall was known for basketball. The walls of the gym in the old building on Adams Street are covered in banners with accolades. One of those is Pat's No. 21 McDonald's All-American banner.

He was a star in high school.

He was putting up more than 30 points a game by his junior year and garnering a lot of national attention - including that of documentary filmmakers who were shooting a follow-up to "Hoop Dreams" called "Hoop Reality." Pat played a big role in the film.

"He was a special player," Bryant said. "A prolific scorer. He just loved the game so much."

Bryant became like a father to Pat. He spent time off the floor with him, too, stressing academics, pushing Pat to be better.

"I knew he was capable of a scholarship," Bryant said. "I wanted that for him."

Another key role player in Pat's life at the time was another coach, Shawn Herrington.

Herrington met Pat when he was just a kid playing on those local courts. Herrington was in his early 20s then and saw something special in Pat.

He was friends with Lisa and with her parents. He started helping her get Pat to and from games when she worked.

"I just cared a lot about him and his family," Herrington said. "They were like family to me."

Pat had quite the cheering section at Marshall games between his mother, grandparents and family friends. They watched as he wore his maroon and white uniform (three sizes too big because baggy was the style) and ran up and down the court scoring.

"It was a lot of fun," Pat said. "Those were great times."

Nomadic period

The rest of his journey has been well-documented. A stint at Arkansas, where he had academic struggles. Then hopping around overseas hoping to get a chance at the NBA.

Now he's a force with the Rockets - the team that took a chance on him after he left Spartak St. Petersburg in 2013.

When the Rockets traveled to Chicago on Friday, Pat's cheering section had grown.

After the game - the Rockets won 115-94 - they piled into a lower section and waited.

Herrington, who runs Team 94 - an AAU team for seventh- and eighth-graders - had 12 of his players there. Pat sponsors the team full of kids from his old neighborhood so they won't have to pay to play.

They wore their new jersey tops - black with Pat's personal logo in white.

He grinned when he saw them all waiting for him.

Herrington, who is in a wheelchair after suffering a gunshot wound in 2014, waited at the top of stairs for his friend to come up.

Pat hugged him hard then took photos with the kids.

Several of his friends from Chicago hung out and waited to say hello, high-five and have a minute with him - the one they are so proud of.

It was clear how much each moment meant to Pat.

It was clear how much he loved every moment of being home.

Sweet home Chicago

The greater Chicago area has turned out plenty of great NBA players.

Rose and Beverley are standouts from their era. Candace Parker also played in the city at that time.

Before them, there was Tony Allen, Dwyane Wade and Kevin Garnett.

Pat is proud to hail from there, proud to call the place home.

It wasn't always pleasant.

"I have friends who are in jail now," Beverley, 28, said. "Friends who got shot, who died, who got hooked on drugs. A lot of them."

He's grateful he avoided that life and got something different from growing up in the area.

For him, the good memories on the outdoor courts near his home on Kildare Street stand out more than any of the negative.

When he's back home, he talks to kids from his neighborhood, gives back.

The kids look at him and see hope, see a future they might not be able to imagine if they didn't know him.

Chicago is where it all started for him, but it's not where it ends. His goals are lofty and plenty. His relationship with the sport is far from over.

After all, basketball saved his life.