It’s Aug. 13, 2010 at 8:30 in the morning, and about 100 kids are doing high-knees and Spidermans up and down a basketball court in Harlem’s Rucker Park. LL Cool J‘s “Mama Said Knock You Out” is blasting through the speakers. NBA trainers Idan Ravin and Daryl L. “D-Train” Smith are barking drill instructions. Michael Jordan is rumored to show. It’s also Friday, and no, this isn’t a Friday the 13th gimmick. It’s all part of the Nike World Basketball Festival and Michael Jordan’s The Breakfast Club finale event.
“We want to say welcome, and we congratulate you all because y’all have been doing this for what now, 10 weeks? We got people here that have really transformed, they’ve changed, they’ve done things, and we’ve proved that for everybody in the world, everybody at home, you understand that you can do a lot of things in life, not just on the basketball court but in life,” said Howard White, vice president of the Jordan Brand.
Surrounding White are the aforementioned kids from Harlem‘s Boys & Girls Club, Urban League and YMCA as well as Miami Heat‘s Dwyane Wade, Denver Nuggets‘ Carmelo Anthony, New Orleans Hornets‘ Chris Paul, Charlotte Bobcats majority owner Jordan and dozens of reporters from around the world who just witnessed a boy school Paul in hoops.
The entire morning stems from a habit Jordan (at left) started in 1989 with Scottie Pippen, Ron Harper, some other teammates and his former trainer Tim Grover. They dubbed themselves “The Breakfast Club” because they arrived daily at Jordan’s house to workout, have breakfast and then they would practice with the rest of the team.
“We wanted to get that advantage over the next competitor,” Jordan said. “What you guys have done is basically the same thing. While your friends are either in bed or doing other things, you guys have gotten up and gotten yourself motivated by being a part of this. And we thank you for that. And in life it’s kinda the same way. If you want to get ahead of anybody else, you’ve got to take those extra steps. And for the love of the game, that’s what those extra steps represent.”
The Jordan Brand gave each organization $23,000 since Jordan’s number was 23. The Harlem Urban League is using it for scholarships. The Harlem Boys & Girls Club will trick out their facilities with new computers and Wi-Fi, while the Harlem YMCA will make some new improvements to their basketball court.
“I wish somebody came back to my neighborhood and did something like this,” Anthony, who’s currently installing basketball courts in low-income neighborhoods nationwide, said. “Growing up, I never had an opportunity for somebody to come back and donate a court, donate a check to my rec center where I was at. I missed out on all of that, so now, I feel like a kid again when it comes to doing stuff like this.”
Wade echoed that sentiment, “When I was young, anytime things went wrong in my household, I would leave and come to my sanctuary, which was always the basketball court, so love of the game meant more than just sport, it was my life, so that’s what it is.”
By 10:30 a.m., it was all over. Parents took their kids home. The NBA stars exited the premises. Reporters crowded the breakfast bar. But the inspiration The Breakfast Club had on the boys and girls who participated will no doubt continue throughout their lives.
“I think the most important thing that this teaches kids is that it humanizes these athletes,” trainer Idan Ravin said. “Because … when the [kids] watch them on TV … they seem almost superhuman, that there’s no way I could ever become Superman. But when you’re close to them and you can touch them, and you can see them and you can talk to them, and you see them on the court with you, it becomes a very tangible goal. That all of the sudden, maybe one day, if I’m very diligent and all the stars line up, and I do what I have to do, maybe I can become like them.”
Photos courtesy of Nike.