A Heart Warming Story

14-year-old Anthony Muobike loves basketball and plays for hours on

end every day.

Every spare minute away from schoolwork and chores, sometimes four to 

five hours a day dribbling up and down his driveway and down the 

residential North Edmonton, Canada street in front of the house.

Bouncebouncebouncebouncebounce…..

And lots of air-shooting….Anthony doesn’t have a net.

Anthony, his mother and siblings moved to the neighborhood only a

year ago, and they were concerned that his constant dribbling might

bother the neighbors.

Anthony said "I thought that whenever I dribble it made a racket and people want

to sleep or something like that.”

But no one had yet complained, and the young man has a dream. 

And if you’re going to dream…. dream big.

"You'll see me out there, in the NBA, that’s where you’ll find me."

On August 15th, one of his neighbors, ten-year resident Ian Ray who

lives directly across the street, with his windows open, decided to

do something about all this constant dribbling. (Jerry’s comment –

this story then went in a directon I expect!)

So, he put this post up on the neighborhood’s local Facebook group. 

“This kid lives in our community and is outside everyday dribbling

his basketball, when he’s not dribbling he’s watching siblings or

walking his dog. He is such a good kid and I would love if anyone had

a basketball net they’re not using or willing to part with so this

kid had a hoop to shoot at. Thanks and have a great day fellow

northsiders.”

 

You see, he and his neighbors wanted to encourage Anthony to pursue

that dream…. and to do that, one needs proper equipment.

 

Within a few hours, the neighborhood raised about $800, but before

Ian could make the purchase, a gracious branch of Canadian Tire got

wind of it, and that evening, they contacted Ian and told him that

they gladly got the net purchase covered.

So Ian put the money into a gift card at a local sporting good

outfitters.

And unbeknownst to anyone in the community, the world wide web took

that single post from a small Facebook group..…

....and placed it firmly in the hearts of some very special people.

Said Ian, "I didn't expect it to blow up like it did but the north

side is a pretty strong community and everyone is willing to chip in

when they have to. It was really nice."

“I was absolutely surprised. I thought when I came out here to

dribble that ball it was making a racket and people would hate it,”

said Anthony. “To find out, I don’t know how many, probably a lot, of

people are believing in me and they give me this. That really touches

my heart.

Holy moly. I’ve just seen the net and it didn't even matter that it

wasn't built yet, it was just in the box. I was like holy moly,

that's crazy. It does touch my heart. It actually just makes me feel

happy inside. It just makes my mind blow. Like wow" (Jerry – quite a

statement by Anthony)

So many believe in him.

It caught the attention of the Royal Crown Academic School in Toronto,

which has invited Anthony to participate in the elite basketball program

they offer, and wants to offer him the support he needs to do so.

Another such admirer is a four-time NBA champion and four-time MVP,

Lebron James (Jerry - For non-basketball fans, Lebron is a vey big deal!).

 

Anthony said "I'm like, 'Wow. LeBron. Like, LeBron James is

commenting on me? I was really happy. It got me a little emotional.

LeBron is my idol. He is the main reason why I started doing

basketball. I did not know this would sky-rocket this way. I am

trying to process everything right now. I am still trying to process

the net. I haven't gotten over that. What LeBron said just made my

brain stop. Everything is just happening so fast."

And as humbling as this all is for Anthony….it’s even more so for

Anthony’s mom, Leticia.

Leticia arrived in Canada, an immigrant from Nigeria, during a period

of unrest and uncertainty. And in her adopted country, here were

others recognizing, encouraging and nurturing her son and his dream.

It’s a refugee’s dream.

It's a mother’s utopia.

“Wow. This is huge. I didn't see it coming. I didn't know I had such

a great community that looks out for one another. I keep telling him,

'I'm going to get it next week, next month.' This is really huge for

me and my family.

He told me yesterday, ‘Mom, I’m going to make you proud.’"

She continuted, "He didn’t sleep last night because he was coming downstairs to check

if the hoop was still there. It’s a lot to take in."

She went on to say ,"My heart is full of joy. I’m overwhelmed. We saw
LeBron James post earlier. I was speechless. I was shaking. I was in shock."

"I told my son, he was crying.

He has somewhere to practice and see his dream. This is a dream come

true and I thank everyone who believes in him. He said he’s going to

make everyone proud.

Seeing this kind of love… melts my heart because I know things are

hard and things are tough right now for many families. I'm overwhelmed
by the love” Leticia said.

The family was just contacted by a rep for the Edmonton Stingers.

They were all invited to their upcoming semi-final game, as honored

guests.

Anthony has never before seen a game, live.

But.… just in case they ask him to play….. he’s ready.

“I’ve been practicing non-stop….

…. just in case.”

(Reported Daily Kos)