MILWAUKEE — Friday Night at the Boys & Girls Club in the Hillside neighborhood was a special one. Thanks to the Milwaukee Bucks and Milwaukee Police Department, the gym has some 50 new basketballs. But more than that, the memories made on a chilly December night will last a lifetime.
“Let’s have some fun y’all!” Bucks Guard Malik Beasley said.
Beasley ran through some drills with the kids in attendance. Even when triple-teamed, he drained a jumper with ease… even if the defenders were all of 3.5 feet tall.
But the kids took their shots too.
“One of them tried to play 1 on 1 against me already,” Beasley said. “I’m like, I just got out of bed man! I got to get warmed up. But it’s awesome to see that because I was the same type of way as a kid, always thinking I can go against the best people. Reminds me of that.”
It was a night that brought Beasley back to his own childhood, growing up in Atlanta. He talked to the kids about how much he depended on his own Boys & Girls Club as a child.
“I used to go there and hoop,” Beasley said. “To see this, in this atmosphere, keep pursuing your dreams no matter what it is. Listen to your parents, do good in school. I had to do the same thing.”
“I’m always pleased and my heart is warm when we hear about the former alum from the Boys & Girls Clubs from across America,” Kathy Thornton-Bias, Boys & Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee President & CEO said. “We hear this all the time. Though Malik is not from Milwaukee, he talks about how important the clubs were for him to have a place to go and play basketball when it’s cold outside or maybe not safe outside. It was a safe place for him to go and hone his craft. Look at him now.”
It was a special opportunity to see the star outside of the spotlight. Without his number 5 jersey on, Beasley fit right in with the crowd. While he may be one of Milwaukee’s best, across the gym were some of Milwaukee’s finest.
They were still decked out in their uniforms, but putting them in this light can alter perspectives.
“When we respond to emergencies and crisis, we’re in this uniform,” Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said. “Being here in the uniform, having a different experience, different perspective and seeing the human side of it.”
Though, Norman says, they’ll leave the basketball to the pros.
“You probably see some of the officers don’t have basketball skills, but that’s ok!” Norman said. “That’s alright. We’re happy they’re here, they’re engaged and the kids are having fun.”
For well over an hour, the kids ran drills with Bucks’ Camp Director Lance Foreman. The drills included dribbling, shooting, and ball handling. The tweet of whistles cutting through the noise inside the gym like it was a real NBA camp for these kids.
“Our kids need experiences,” Thornton-Bias said. “They need to understand what’s outside of their neighborhood, outside of their block. To watch people like Malik on TV and then have him here in person, that’s a memory that they will have for the rest of their childhood.”
For more information about the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, you can visit their website to learn more about their programs and locations across the area.
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