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Shaq, Bobby White Team Up For Pick-Up Basketball Game With Florida Kids

By Regina Avalos
Published on: 23:22 PST, Jan 24, 2016

Shaq and Bobby White made some Florida kids very happy over the weekend. Who is Bobby White? He is a police officer with the Gainesville Police Department, and he decided to do something out of the norm when he answered a call about a noise complaint last Thursday. The call came from someone that complained about a group of local kids playing a game of basketball “too loudly” outside their home.

According to CNN, Bobby White arrived at the scene, and he joined in for a little game. He did not arrest the kids or tell them to quiet down. Instead, he decided to let “kids be kids” and let them play. There was no crime at the location. The kids were playing, having fun, and, most importantly, they were staying out of trouble. After the game, White promised that he would be back to play more on Saturday, and he would bring backup to help him play.

The Gainesville Police Department shared video of White’s game with the teens on Thursday, and the video went viral. It was shared more than 14 million times. The video caught the attention of one big basketball player, and he decided to head to the Gainesville Police Department himself to help White with his next basketball game on Saturday.

Shaquille O’Neal, formerly from the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat, surprised the Gainesville Police Department on Saturday with his arrival. He wanted to join in on the game with White and the kids. He showed up with the police at the basketball court, and the kids were even more surprised. According to KCCI, one kid exclaimed, “Oh my God, you’re huge!” when hugged by the former NBA star.

Shaq, Bobby White, more officers from the Gainesville Police Department, and the kids all joined in together to play a quick game of basketball. Shaq also spoke with the group of eight kids about basketball and life. He made sure to tell them to follow their dreams.

Since the first video went viral, Bobby White and the Gainesville Police Department have earned a lot of attention. According to the Gainesville Police Department Facebook page, White will be featured on several national broadcasts on Monday morning, including Good Morning America and CNN.

Bobby White is helping show that not all kids are bad. Some actually know how to stay out of trouble and focus on positive things like sports and school. The Gainesville Police offered a big thank you to Shaq on their Facebook page, and they also thanked someone else too in a recent post.

“In the midst of the saga of ‘Basketball Cop’ Bobby White, we would, in fact like to thank the original caller that made the noise complaint. They’re the real MVP. Without their call….none of this would have happened. PS – Hope we weren’t too loud yesterday. Shaq has big lungs.”

It is safe to say that person never expected the police to join in on “the crime” when they called in on Thursday afternoon.

Bobby White is not the first police officer to stop and join in on a kid’s basketball game. Back in June, a group of police officers were caught on a cell phone camera playing basketball with kids in Troy, New York. The woman who took the video was pleasantly surprised by the action, and she decided to share her video. According to WYNT, Michael Clough, one of the officers in the video, spoke about the basketball game with the media.

“With everything going on in the world cops are in a bad light right now. So if we can get out and show the community we’re not all bad.”

As for Shaq, he is a man of the law himself. According to a previous Inquisitr report, he was sworn in a police officer by the Doral Police Department in South Florida earlier this month.

What did you think of the viral video of Bobby White’s basketball game?

[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]

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