Two lucky Lampton Basketball Academy players got to appear on court at the O2 Arena with their NBA heroes last Thursday.
David Chive and Monzer Mohamed were the duo chosen for a special cameo as the NBA returned to London, with the Brooklyn Nets taking on the Atlanta Hawks.
The pair were brought onto the centre of the court before the game as an example to show the capacity 20,000 crowd the work the teams had been doing with young talent based in the capital.
They were led to and from the court by NBA legends including Dominique Wilkins and 7 ft 7 ins giant Dikembe Mutombo before being given courtesy tickets to watch the game.
They were part of a group of 10 from the Lampton Academy – based at Lampton School in Hounslow – who the previous day were selected to be part of a skills session at the O2 Arena, led by superstar players from the both the Nets and the Hawks.
After the session, the Lampton players were allowed to stay on and watch both teams practice, with Chive and Mohamed singled out for the special treat as a result of their hard work during the sessions.
Lampton basketball coach Alan Keane said: “This was an amazing opportunity that allowed the Lampton players to work closely alongside their role models, which will help inspire and motivate them to be better students and harder working players. These lucky players reaped the rewards that come with honest hard work at home, in the classroom, and on the court.”
In the event, Brooklyn Nets ran out 127-110 winners, watched by a whole clutch of Premier League footballers including Arsenal's Jack Wilshire and Per Mertesacker, and Chelsea's Eden Hazard, David Luiz and Demba Ba.
