Amid the most frenzied summer in NBA history, Myles Turner has been living and training in tranquil solitude.

While six of last season's 15 All-NBA team members jumped to different franchises, the reigning league blocked-shots leader isolated himself 15 miles southwest of Fort Worth at the Athletic Performance Ranch.

While his Indiana Pacers and hometown Mavericks attempted to upgrade their rosters, the Euless Trinity and University of Texas product trained his sights on USA Basketball's Aug. 5-9 training camp in Las Vegas.

Turner, 6-11, 250 pounds, hopes to earn a spot on the USA squad that will compete in the Aug. 31-Sept. 15 FIBA World Cup in China. He's honing his body and mind through weightlifting, swimming, kickboxing and yoga, in a high-tech training facility surrounded by pastures.

"I like it secluded," he said. "I like being able to do my own thing and training with my own team and not having any outside noise."

The NBA's late-June, early-July free agency "madness," as Turner called it, resulted in more than $3 billion being spent. No, Turner wasn't one of the 100-plus wooed free agents, but on July 1 he quietly became part of the spending spree.

That was the day on which the four-year, $72 million extension he agreed to with the Pacers last October kicked in, raising his annual salary from $3.4 million to $18 million.

"At the end of the day," he said, "I'm glad to know where I'm at and that all my ducks are in the row."

He's only 23, but the maturation of Bedford-born Turner is evident beyond his 13.3-point, 7.2-rebound, 2.7-block averages last season -- and the fact Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle has called him the prototypical new NBA center, with size to bang in the paint and agility to score and defend on the perimeter.

Turner credits his parents, David and Mary, and considers himself blessed to have been raised in a two-parent home.

He showed his gratitude by buying his parents a home in a gated neighborhood, though only a few miles from the house in which he grew up. He bought a car for his grandmother and a Jeep for his 16-year-old sister, Mya.

During his one season at Texas, where he was Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2015, Turner majored in psychology, though it's obvious he was wise to declare himself for that June's draft, in which the Pacers selected him 11th overall.

His freshman-year plan to become a therapist is on indefinite hold, but his natural instinct to help people endure.

"He gives good advice," Mya said. "And he's a good listener, too."

Groomed to play

1 / 5Trinity seniors Hudson Smith (21) and Myles Turner celebrate a foul called against HCYA during the first half of a high school basketball game at Trinity High School in Euless, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013. (BRANDON WADE/Special Contributor) -- Homeschool Christian Youth Association vs. Euless Trinity(Brandon Wade / Special Contributor) 2 / 5Euless Trinity basketball player Myles Turner, center, with mother Mary Turner, left, and sister, Mya Turner, 11, announced his commitment to play for the University of Texas during a ceremony at Euless Trinity in Euless, Texas, on April 30, 2014. (Michael Ainsworth/The Dallas Morning News)(Michael Ainsworth / Staff Photographer) 3 / 5AUSTIN, TX - MARCH 2: Myles Turner #52 of the Texas Longhorns celebrates after defeating the Baylor Bears in overtime at the Frank Erwin Center on March 2, 2015 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 519906435(Chris Covatta / Getty Images) 4 / 5Indiana Pacers basketball player Myles Turner and a former Central Junior High student in Euless, Texas makes a grand entrance to the Central Junior High School gymnasium in Euless on Thursday, February 11, 2016. Myles presented the inaugural eponymous Player of the Year Award to Jackson Kapellusch, a 7th grader and gave him tickets to the Pacers and Mavericks basketball game. The Myles Turner Player Of the Year award is a cumulative award given to the top student athlete in basketball who best exemplifies the character traits presented on the award application. The requirements consist of the student athlete maintaining academic eligibility, a high character, being a positive role model on and off the court, and leading his team in at least one statistical category. (David Woo/The Dallas Morning News)(David Woo / Staff Photographer) 5 / 5Dallas Mavericks forward David Lee (42) and Indiana Pacers forward Myles Turner battle for a rebound during the first half of their game Saturday, March 12, 2016 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. (G.J. McCarthy/The Dallas Morning News)(G.J. McCarthy / Staff Photographer)

David Turner worked at DFW International Airport for nearly 30 years. He started as a bus driver and became a customer service agent in the terminals.

Mary Turner worked for Starwood for 25 years, starting out as director of housekeeping at the Irving Sheraton and rising to the chain's service culture training manager.

Mary worked days, David nights. David, who grew up in New York as a Knicks and Julius Erving fan, taught Myles how to shoot and coached his YMCA teams.

At the age-6 YMCA level, as a teaching tool, players were required to wear colored wristbands and to guard the opposing player wearing the same-color band.

Myles already was such a prolific shot-blocker that one opposing coach, a wannabe Don Nelson, called timeout and instructed the kid that Myles was guarding to stand at halfcourt on the next offensive possession.

"I said, 'No, no. We came out here to learn basketball,' " David recalled.

As Myles got older, Turner family vacations were planned around his AAU teams' out-of-town tournaments. At home, Mary encouraged Myles to practice free throws instead of playing video games, and she instituted a "no TV" rule from Monday through Thursday.

"That wasn't a punishment," she said. "That was like, 'Why not?' We just didn't do TV because he didn't miss it. It worked."

Noted Myles with a smile: "Really, I get all my competitiveness from my mom."

Example: Mother and son relished playing "slaps," in which the person who slaps last wins. Mary on one occasion famously set her alarm for 2:30 a.m. so she could wake up, "slap" Myles and, for evidence, take a selfie.

"I'd love to take the credit, but mom is tough," David said. "Yeah, I gave him some basketball; I love basketball. But the competitiveness came from mom. Trust me, mom does not like to lose. They are funny together."

David's home office is filled with mementos from Myles' career. There is a signed basketball from the 2015 NBA draft. There is a large framed photo, signed "To Pops," of Myles' posterizing tomahawk dunk over Boston's Gordon Hayward during last season's playoffs.

There is the basketball that Myles asked "Dr. J" to autograph for David, the same day on which Myles Facetimed David and then shocked Dad by handing the phone to Erving.

"It's been a fun ride," David said. "And the journey's just started."

Fan Favorite

1 / 4Students swarmed Euless Trinity basketball player Myles Turner, (with orange hat) after he announced his commitment to play for the University of Texas during a ceremony at Euless Trinity in Euless, Texas, on April 30, 2014. (Michael Ainsworth/The Dallas Morning News)(Michael Ainsworth / Staff Photographer) 2 / 4Myles Turner, a former Central Junior High student in Euless, Texas, and a basketball player for the Indiana Pacers presented the inaugural eponymous Player of the Year Award to Jackson Kapellusch, a 7th grader on Thursday, February 11, 2016 at Central Junior High in Euless. The Myles Turner Player Of the Year award is a cumulative award given to the top student athlete in basketball who best exemplifies the character traits presented on the award application. The requirements consist of the student athlete maintaining academic eligibility, a high character, being a positive role model on and off the court, and leading his team in at least one statistical category. (David Woo/The Dallas Morning News)(David Woo / Staff Photographer) 3 / 4Indiana Pacers basketball player Myles Turner, a former Central Junior High student in Euless, Texas, speaks before presenting Jackson Kapellusch, a 7th grader the inaugural eponymous Player of the Year Award Texas at Central Junior High School in Euless on Thursday, February 11, 2016. The Myles Turner Player Of the Year award is a cumulative award given to the top student athlete in basketball who best exemplifies the character traits presented on the award application. The requirements consist of the student athlete maintaining academic eligibility, a high character, being a positive role model on and off the court, and leading his team in at least one statistical category. (David Woo/The Dallas Morning News)(David Woo / Staff Photographer) 4 / 4Indiana Pacers Center Myles Turner speaks to an audience before a sneak preview of the new Spider Man movie at Alamo Drafthouse in Dallas, Texas on Wednesday, June 26, 2019. (Lawrence Jenkins/Special Contributor)(Lawrence Jenkins / Special Contributor)

During his four seasons in Indiana, Turner has become one of the Pacers' most popular players.

Each year, he sponsors a group of tickets in Bankers Life Fieldhouse called Turner's Block, but he doesn't merely give the tickets away.

Fans are asked to "try out" for the tickets, as explained by Turner in a Players Tribune essay titled "Indiana Has No Chill."

People show up and get 20 seconds on stage to do something that will impress me, something that will prove their fandom. And man, people choose to use that time in ... all kinds of ways.

One fan, I swear to God, showed up in a full-on wedding dress. She actually came up on stage, got down on one knee, presented me with a cherry ring pop and proposed to be in my fan section.

You already know the answer, right?

Baby, I do.

Welcome to The Block, Wedding Dress Lady.

This is the time of year when Turner usually conducts his basketball camp in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford area.

Turner's camps are popular because of how engaged he is, not only during fundamentals training, but at the camp, when each kid is handed a Nerf Blaster and engages in fun combat with big-kid Turner.

This year, though, Turner's USA Basketball training and obligations made it impossible to host a camp. So in late June, Turner hosted about 100 of his usual summer campers and their family members for an advance screening of Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Spider-Man movies are favorites of Turner's because his father grew up as a comic book fan and passed his love of Spider-Man, in particular, to Myles.

"One of my fondest childhood memories is watching Spider-Man cartoons with him," said Myles, who hosted screenings of previous Spider-Man movies for kids in Indianapolis.

Before the Far From Home screening at Alamo Drafthouse in Lake Highlands, Turner stood in front of the auditorium, answering questions from kids about how tall he is ("7-foot on a good day"), what he eats for breakfast (omelet or pancakes or Cinnamon Toast Crunch).

'A bigger platform'

1 / 2Indiana Pacers Center Myles Turner's parents Mary & David Turner and sister Mya Turner puts care packages together for the homeless at their home in Colleyville, Texas on Wednesday, June 26, 2019. (Lawrence Jenkins/Special Contributor)(Lawrence Jenkins / Special Contributor) 2 / 2Indiana Pacers Center Myles Turner's parents Mary & David Turner and sister Mya Turner puts care packages together for the homeless at their home in Colleyville, Texas on Wednesday, June 26, 2019. (Lawrence Jenkins/Special Contributor)(Lawrence Jenkins / Special Contributor)

Then Turner explained to the kids why, after the movie, each of them would receive a bag full of personal supplies like toothbrush and toothpaste, water, snacks and blanket.

On a rare extremely cold North Texas day when Myles was about 13, he and his sister went to get hot chocolate. In front of the store they saw a homeless man in his early 20s, using socks as hand-warmers.

"My mom was one of those apocalyptic, anything-can-happen-at-any-moment moms," Turner said. "She always kept extra blankets, clothes and food in the back of the car."

Along with giving what was in the back of the car, Myles took off his jacket and handed it to the young man, who was profusely thankful.

"I was real young, but I remember how it affected me," Turner said. "I grew up fortunate enough to have two parents who did whatever they could to provide for me. Not everybody is put in that position."

Early in his rookie season at Indiana, Turner fractured his left thumb and missed 21 games. He had contemplated the idea of starting an initiative for the homeless, so, during his injury absence, as a test, he and friends went into downtown Indianapolis one night and began handing out bags with blankets and handwarmers and other supplies.

It was only afterward that someone explained to Turner that he probably should have taken security with him.

"But at the time," he said, "it just felt normal."

Today, Turner and his family call the initiative W.A.R.M. -- We All Really Matter. Along with the care packages, a note of encouragement is placed in each bag.

With his family's help, Turner's initiative has spread in Indianapolis, with hundreds of bags given out each year.

"We were hand-writing the notes ourselves," Mary Turner said. "But fans, when they saw what we were doing, started sending us notes to put in the bags."

W.A.R.M. is not a charity, but, rather, an initiative to encourage people to keep care packages in their cars to give to the homeless.

The acronym might be more fitting in Indiana and other cold-weather states, but Turner says the sentiment applies everywhere.

"I always told myself that, if I ever made it, I would do something with this one day, on a bigger platform," he said. "It's something I'm trying to expand in my home state and hopefully across the nation.

"I think this can go even miles further."

It wasn't clear whether the pun was intentional, but Myles Turner, clearly, is poised to go further. On and off the court.

Twitter: @townbrad