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  • 2 days ago
A basketball-loving teen fearing a knock on his door was his neighbors complaining he was making too much noise while shooting at a tree was stunned when they surprised him with a new hoop. The kind-hearted surprise not only went viral but also received support from the likes of NBA star Lebron James, who described the gesture as "pure and beautiful" on social media. For months, Ian Ray and his neighbors in Edmonton, Canada, watched Anthony Moubike, aged 14, make do with shooting at a tree and dribbling around on his drive and the nearby sidewalk. But one day, Ian thought to himself that someone nearby must be able to help Anthony out, so he posted a message in their local Facebook Group, Northside Hub (Edmonton), to ask if anyone had a net. Sure enough, offers came flying in, with people asking Ian if they could also donate cash to help Anthony out with his basketball prospects. With the wheels in motion, a manager at a local tire store then messaged to donate the entire net himself, and so Ian collected the net and put the other donations, $750, into a sports store gift card. Ian then arrived at Anthony's home, where he knocked on the door and the teen made his way outside. Initially, Anthony admitted he feared his basketball playing on the street and against trees would be cause for complaint, but then Ian revealed the hoop and presented the teenager with a gift card.
Transcript
00:00I'm just here, I'm outside dribbling, dribbling on the driveway, dribbling down the block,
00:18just shooting at the tree, just doing his thing, you know, he's being a good kid,
00:24it looked like he had a passion for balls, so I just figured, hey, let's try and find this kid in that,
00:30so, yeah, we just created a post online, and on a Facebook page, and, yeah, we were just blown away
00:40with all the support from the community and stuff like that, everybody wanted to help the kid out.
00:49What's up, buddy? How's it going? You like ball? Yeah.
00:54Okay, there you go, come on out, your mum said you want to be a basketball player,
01:02come here, you probably need a net. So this, this is from people at Canadian Tired,
01:11they thought we should have a net, we set up a little something and, yes, we've got a net,
01:19a ball, and then more people, um, they wanted to help out too, people from all around the north side,
01:29so, uh, they wanted you to have that.
01:33Oh, thanks, this actually means a lot. I know it does. Thank you, thank you.
01:37I see you dribbling the ball all the time, you need a net to shoot on, right?
01:43Thank you, yeah. Yeah.
01:45So, go ahead, open up your card, buddy, here, I'll hold the ball. Okay.
01:49Anthony, keep following your dreams and work hard, and anything is possible, love the raise,
02:03and all the might sell.
02:05And there's some cash there for you, so you can go buy whatever you want at Sport Check.
02:09There's $750 there.
02:15$750?
02:17Yeah, man. Wow.
02:19No, you're a good kid. Good, good kids deserve good things, so keep, keep doing what you're doing, man.
02:25Work hard.
02:27Follow your dreams.
02:29Okay? Thanks so much.
02:31You betcha, buddy. You betcha, man.
02:33I was scared at first, when he first turned up, because he was a little intimidating.
02:39Like, when you just look at him, he almost looks like Thor.
02:42And he's like, it was like a little scary, because I felt like he, people were getting annoyed from my dribbling.
02:49So, and then he gives me the basketball net, and I was like, wow.
02:53I'm trying to hit the professional career, like work hard to make it to that stage, make it to the NBA,
02:59and show everybody what's up, like, you know, how they say to rookies in the NBA, welcome.
03:04And I'll be, I'll be welcoming them soon, so, yeah.
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