- April 24, 2024
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Harlem Wizards
WHEN: 7 p.m. May 15 (Doors open at 6 p.m.)
WHERE: West Orange High School, 1625 Beulah Road, Winter Garden
TICKETS: $20 reserved, $12 general admission (plus $0.99 processing); $15 at the gate
WEBSITE: harlemwizards.com/schedules
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WINTER GARDEN — There are several troupes of basketball talents who travel the country with amazing tricks, but few face teachers on the hardwood to raise funds for schools.
One such squad is the Harlem Wizards, which has plenty of experienced showmen from international competitions, college basketball programs and even the Harlem Globetrotters. The Wizards tour the U.S. each year and have performed all over the world.
Their stop at 7 p.m. May 15 will be West Orange High School, where they will face local teachers in a game benefiting the Lion’s Pride Foundation of Glenridge Middle School, which is raising money to support its International Baccalaureate Programme and technology needs.
The Wizards use all sorts of tricks to dazzle their audiences, often ending in spectacular dunks from specialists such as Orlando’s own LaMarvon “Showtime” Jackson, a 6-foot-5 former University of Arkansas at Little Rock standout.
“When I first came to the Harlem Wizards in 2011, my name was Mr. 540, and that was because I can do a 360-and-a-half while in the air and dunk the ball,” Jackson said. “I can’t even say when I started doing that dunk, but I’ve been able to do it a long time. People in street basketball started doing the 720. One day, I was doing the 360 to dunk the basketball, and I kept going and it turned into a 540. You’re trying to dunk it backward, but the way I actually start is almost as if I’m facing backward already as I start, so I’m dunking forward over my shoulder.”
While fans enjoy seeing Jackson’s 540 dunks Friday night, Jackson is happy to be in the Orlando area to be home for a while.
“For me, it’s great,” he said. “I get to see my wife, get to be home and actually get to sleep in my own bed right after the game. It’s been great, in general, because I’ve been doing entertainment basketball with the Wizards for four years. I’m also happy to go somewhere warm, because this winter’s been terrible.”
Jackson is glad to be performing for the local community and would like to see more growth in the area for more Wizards games in Florida, especially Central Florida.
But basketball is the smallest part of what inspires Jackson to play for the Wizards, he said.
“I could play basketball anytime, but getting the chance to interact and inspire, making kids want to try out for basketball or go make a difference, that’s what keeps me going,” Jackson said. “It’s the joy, the privilege of being able to give back to help be a part of change, so to speak. When I say change, some places that we go we do fundraisers for the PTO or PTA. Some places, we do fundraisers for tragedies.”
Contact Zak Kerr at [email protected].
