The only ones who will fly higher than Giannis Antetokounmpo on the court Wednesday night at Fiserv Forum aren't even fully grown.
Inside a dimly-lit church gymnasium on Milwaukee's north side, young boys with the Milwaukee Flyers take flight in preparation for yet another performance on one of the biggest stages in Milwaukee: a Bucks playoff game.
"My dream came true," said Dejai Lee. "I never thought I would be able to make it to the Bucks game, but I made it."
The organization takes in kids like Lee and Terrell Grant from the inner city who share one thing in common.
"It means a lot because since my dad's not here," Grant said.
Their fathers aren't part of their lives during their formative years.
"From my experience, I was a troubled child," said Milwaukee Flyers founder and director Charles Grant.
Grant knows the impact that void had on his life.
"I got involved in gangs and some drugs and went to detention facilities, was in and out of jail, just couldn't find my way," he said.
For the past decade, Grant has made it his mission to pay it forward by providing kids with positive male role models through gymnastics, mentorship, and love.
"Just to show them that I care because I understand growing up without a father, without that love and the biggest important thing I feel what we provide is love," Grant said.
The team creates a family of their own with father figures to help guide the way.
"Once you see others doing positive things it makes you want to do positive things," Terrell Grant said.
