There's a video making the rounds on the Internet that is pure gold. First the caveat: We don't know what exactly is going on. The assumption, based on their dress, is that it features two Mormon missionaries dominating a pickup basketball game.
First, you see the young men in white shirts and black ties miss a couple of shots, but then as the game truly begins, they dominate, sinking layups and nailing two dunks. Best of all: It's a friendly, happy atmosphere. Watch, but be warned there are a few fleeting expletives:
Gawker points out that basketball is one of the few sports that Mormon missionaries are allowed to play. The Missionary Handbook (pdf) suggests that if missionaries decide to play basketball, they should "not allow the situation to become intense or competitive," and they should also play only half court.
Of note: Back in May of 2012, Sports Illustrated named Jabari Parker, who is Mormon, "the best high school basketball player since LeBron James." FamousMormons.net has a list of other notable Mormon basketball stars.
We'll keep our eye out on this video, see if we learn the identities of some of those in it. We'll update if we learn more.
One more thing: We like stories that challenge assumptions — like this one in October of 2012 of a teacher wowing his students with a jig and this one a California Conservation Corps. boss surprising younger members with some moves.
h/t: Reddit.
Update at 2:15 p.m. ET. The Original:
The video appears to have been uploaded originally by a YouTube user named "Jared Allen." He wrote this description of the video:
"My cousin Cole, a missionary in Dallas Texas, has been dying to play some street ball and got the chance. After playing it cool asking to play because they are "Just some white boys", they were allowed to play and tried to make it look like they weren't that good. That is until they started to play. Turn up the volume and laugh hysterically. Cole proves that white boys can jump
"Go to 1 Minute to see the best part
"Best part of the story is that one of the guy's daughters ended up getting Baptized."
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDIxMDkyNjUxMDE0NDY1Njg1NzRiOTRiYQ000))
