“Basketball Cop” On His Rough Childhood and the Good Things That His Charity Is Doing
Bobby White, the “Basketball Cop”
“Basketball Cop” On His Rough Childhood and the Good Things That His Charity Is Doing
Gainesville, FL – From a rough childhood with no father and a drug addicted mother to becoming a Police Officer operating an amazing charity, Bobby White is quite the cop.
You’ve probably seen the ultra viral video of the “Basketball Cop” come across your Facebook feed more than a few times. The video of the police officer playing basketball with the kids blew up a few months ago after Officer Bobby White was called to a noise complaint of kids playing basketball in the street.
When Bobby arrived on scene, his community oriented policing skills kicked into high gear. Instead of “cracking down” on those hooligans making all that dadgommed racket on a public street, “Basketball Cop” Bobby decided instead to make friends with the young men and shoot some hoops with them.
On Bobby’s dashcam, you can hear him say “can you believe someone called, complaining about kids playing basketball in the street”.
The kids were probably a little nervous about what was coming. They’ve probably seen everything on the news and heard some of the lies that the media blows out of proportion.
“I don’t have a problem with it” Bobby says, before he plays with the kids for a while until he has to go back into service.
Gainsville, FL is lucky to have such a wonderful officer.
It didn’t stop there though. The video went viral overnight, so Bobby and his coworkers agreed to have a rematch a week after the original video. None of them knew that NBA legend Shaquille O’neal was joining in the fun until he walked into roll call one morning:
We called Bobby and talked with him about hanging out with Shaq, his rough upbringing, and everything that his charity has done for communities all over the US.
It turns out Bobby’s childhood was a lot like the kids he strives to help out every day.
“My mom was a drug addict, I only met my dad once, I know what it’s like for these kids growing up,” Bobby said.
Bobby remembers living with his mother’s boyfriends until she finally started dating a drug dealer, where she became hooked on crack cocaine.
“I probably attended over 7 schools when I was younger, we were always moving around and staying with my mom’s boyfriends.”
Bobby’s mother was addicted to crack until she passed away a few years ago. He met his father once when he was 12 years old; other than that, his father never wanted to be in his life. He told us that he knows what it’s like for these kids and he just wants to make sure they have a safe environment to play basketball in, instead of being out on the streets possibly getting into trouble.
Bobby is a shining example that no matter what your upbringing is, what hood you come from, or what terrible experiences you’ve been through, there is always a way to make something of yourself. Not only did Bobby pull himself out of such a rough childhood, he started the Basketball Cop Foundation
Bobby with some of his foundation’s kids
Since the video went viral of Shaq hanging with the officers and playing basketball with the kids from the original dash cam video, Bobby’s Foundation has raised over $16,000 on GoFundMe (and is still accepting donations!)
Bobby and his police department’s POI came up with #Hoopsnotcrime and so far the Basketball Cop Foundation has given out over 120 basketballs and 25 hoops to communities across the nation. Here is a clip from the Basketball Cop Foundation showing Bobby and a fellow officer giving a hoop away to a local Gainesville family who had their hoop stolen from them:
The Basketball Cop foundation has even built whole basketball courts for some communities. Below is a court built for the Upper Room Ministries, which has a free summer camp for kids every year.
Upper Room Ministries basketball court
Bobby’s foundation also built a court behind the house of one of the kids from the original video. A few Harlem Globetrotters even showed up to play with them!
Harlem Globetrotters on “Tyree’s Court”
Bobby tells us that Shaq is a pretty great guy and really believes in the Basketball Cop Foundation’s mission. It was Shaq’s idea to drive up to Gainesville after he saw the original dash cam video on the news. Bobby and his basketball crew were invited to Shaq’s house to hang out and shoot some hoops not long ago.
Shaq’s court inside of his house
Bobby even got to fly with the U.S Airforce Thunderbirds (the amateur Blue Angels, go Navy)
Bobby all suited up and pulling some G’s
Bobby, we here at Blue Lives matter thank you for being such a fantastic public servant to your community, you are an inspiration to us all.
#HoopsNotCrime
Check out the entire video of the rematch game with Shaq below
For more information on the Basketball Cop Foundation, you can visit http://Basketballcop.net or:
Basketball Cop Foundation Go Fund Me
Basketball Cop Foundation Facebook
Basketball Cop Foundation Instagram
Basketball Cop Foundation Twitter
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