Stephania Ergemlidze wanted to find a way to, as she said, “spread love and bring people together the way I know how to best” during the protests that continue after the death of George Floyd.
That way is with basketball.
In a series of tweets spotlighted by WHYY’s Nina Feldman, Ergemlidze and a group of people with her brought a hoop to Center City and convinced folks to play (it’s a reminder that hoops have been taken down, closed and shut down during the cornavirus pandemic). That apparently included a police officer.
Note that an early, viral tweet (the first one below) identified Khalil Gardner as the man behind the idea, but was corrected later:
Khalil Gardner is a part of a group dragging a basketball hoop around center city trying to get people to play to break the tension. pic.twitter.com/EA4Cwazpne
— Nina Feldman (@ncannellf) June 2, 2020
They convinced a cop to play – his colleagues had to remind him to put his gun away before he took some shots. A couple others yelled for him to stop. pic.twitter.com/TC3dqYRDP6
— Nina Feldman (@ncannellf) June 2, 2020
If the goal was to break tension it seems to have worked pic.twitter.com/MacLUdUCSn
— Nina Feldman (@ncannellf) June 2, 2020
To all Khalil’s fans, the mastermind behind this project is Stephania Ergemlidze. I watched her school dude after dude one-on-one. Sorry I am just now giving her credit where credit’s due, just got home after a long one out there. pic.twitter.com/XLZomQupid
— Nina Feldman (@ncannellf) June 3, 2020
https://www.facebook.com/stephaniaergemlidze/videos/642215503038775/
[jwplayer H8asyQ6z-q2aasYxh]