There Is Hope (And Hoops) In This World
If there’s one thing this world can agree on, it’s basketball. And this is coming from a guy who sucks at it – although I did once have 16 points in a church league game back in high school, not to brag. When you’re on the court, everything gets thrown away: you forget about all your problems at home, you forget about all the problems in the world, you forget where you parked, everything. It’s just you, your four teammates and the five guys you’re going up against. Oh, and then there’s the five other guys on the side making sure everyone knows they have next. Yeah, we know guys. We see you sitting there.
Problem is, we haven’t been able to make it to the courts due to this global pandemic. Most outdoor parks have been locked up or had the rims removed. We’ve been longing for basketball. To watch. To play. To bet on (for some of you). So this group of literal Einsteins, including Khalil Gardner, decided to bring the court out to the people. And I mean, right in the heart of the protests. Center City in Philadelphia.
They convinced a cop to play – his colleagues had to remind him to put his gun away before he took some shots. A couple others yelled for him to stop. pic.twitter.com/TC3dqYRDP6
— Nina Feldman (@ncannellf) June 2, 2020
You don’t have time to get to a game, so these guys are bringing the game to you. The sign posted below the hoop says everything too.
THEY EVEN BROUGHT SANITIZER! Incredible. This is awesome. Awesome in so many ways. Everyone loves to hoop. Even people like me (and that cop) who aren’t any good. (Cop still has a better jumper than Ben Simmons tho.)
If the goal was to break tension it seems to have worked pic.twitter.com/MacLUdUCSn
— Nina Feldman (@ncannellf) June 2, 2020
This is just refreshing to see. Everyone has been on edge (and rightfully so). Things should feel uncomfortable right now, because they are uncomfortable. But in the meantime, let’s hoop to relieve some stress.
Not to go too Philadelphia on you, but are you ready for an M. Night Shyamalan twist?
Don’t assume this mini-movement was started by Khalil, or even a guy for that matter.
To all Khalil’s fans, the mastermind behind this project is Stephania Ergemlidze. I watched her school dude after dude one-on-one. Sorry I am just now giving her credit where credit’s due, just got home after a long one out there. pic.twitter.com/XLZomQupid
— Nina Feldman (@ncannellf) June 3, 2020
Of course this was Stephania’s idea. This has Stephania written all over it. Classic Stephania. But real talk: mad props. Also, I would totally be on that long list of dude’s she would school. It would be like Jordan vs. Wayne Knight from Space Jam.
Look, things suck right now. They’ve sucked for a lot of people for much longer than just right now. Let’s continue with the three rules to live by: Play to 11, win by two. Call your own fouls. And treat other people with respect, whether you like them or not.
