Harlem Globetrotters surprise kids in quarantine
A group of 9-year-old boys from New Jersey had planned on doing a Harlem Globetrotters-inspired routine for their school talent show. Because of the stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines in place, the show was canceled — but the boys ended up getting a surprise Zoom visit from two members of the team.
Max Gorman and his group of friends had been practicing their tricks for two months before the Elizabeth Haddon Elementary School talent show was canceled, CBS Philadelphia reports. “I really felt like I wouldn’t be able to like do anything related with this and not be able to do my tricks for other people,” 9-year-old Max Gorman told the outlet.
Since the boys were discouraged, their parents decided to get their group, named “The Lizzy Buckets,” together via video conference. Katie Gorman, Max’s mother, told CBS Philadelphia she didn’t want to let their talents go to waste.
“Because we have nothing but time on our hands, I reached out to the Globetrotters, saying we’re thinking about getting our kids together via Zoom just to perform since they haven’t been able to do that,” Gorman said.
The boys started their video conference on the Zoom app around 9:30 a.m. on Thursday. They started doing their basketball routine in unison – until around 9:45 a.m., when Hammer Harrison and Cheese Chisholm of the Harlem Globetrotters joined the Zoom.
Harrison and Chisholm showed off their tricks and watched the boys do the same. Then, the kids got to ask the stars questions about being a part of the Globetrotters. “How many years of training did it take you to learn your hardest trick?” Max asked.
“One of my greatest tricks was actually breaking the world record for the longest underhand shot, that was over 84 feet away from the basket,” Harrison said.
“My favorite trick is right here,” Chisholm said, spinning the ball on his finger. “The reason why that’s my favorite trick? Because it’s a universal language. We travel all around the world, to Spain, to Italy, and we don’t have to speak the language, but as soon as we spin that ball, it’s like we speak the same language.”
These boys may be stuck in the house, but they still got to see each other – and a couple of Harlem Globetrotter stars.
“Between the parents and myself, just afterwards it was just really heartwarming and it’s something I’m calling a quarantine silver living,” Gorman said.
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