The Harlem Globetrotters are arguably one of the coolest basketball teams around.
When you see the red, white and blue ball to the easily recognizable uniform, you know you're in for a good time.
Buckets Blakes has been with the team for 15 seasons, but he's loved basketball since he was 5 years old.
"I asked my parents for a Nerf hoop when I was 5 yeas old, they took entirely too long so I went to my grandmother's red sewing box and I got her scissors and I got one of my dad's hats and i cut a hole in the top of it and I flipped the hat over and slid the bill of it into the door frame and I shot a tennis ball in there and that was my first basket," Blakes said.
He grew up loving sports, playing basketball, football and track in Phoenix, Arizona. He realized basketball was a better choice in the summer, being inside with air conditioning.
His path led him straight to becoming a Globetrotter, being scouted at a young age. He's been making bigger and better baskets, even earning spots in the record books for biggest shot, (300 feet away) and most half-court shots in a minute (making 6 in 46 seconds).
At a local YMCA, Blakes taught ABC2 News Reporter Cassie Carlisle what it takes to be a part of the team.
First trick, bring the ball around your back, under your led, fake a pass, pop the ball to your chest and then to your knee as a pass to the next player.
Once passed back to Blakes, he made the ball float, looking like magic the way it spun around his body and tossed it into the air, "You know boom and then I get that thing and I do globetrotter stuff with it, hey hey, eh eh!" Blakes said getting into his groove.
Next, how to make a basket, "You're going to shoot it off that white box and flick your wrist, you see how I kept my hand up, like you're on your tip toes digging in a jar, trying to get that last cookie," Blakes said.
"Our games are so fun, we love it so much and that's just one of the entertainment industries, the Harlem Globetrotters are one of those entertainment entities where you got three generations all on the same page. You look, see the 7-year-old cracking up, you see his parents cracking up, then you see his grandparents cracking up," Blakes said.
Blakes loves mentoring and has this advice for every kid, "Be the best you, that you can possibly be, it's tough to try and be someone else. You are unique, you are cool, and once you figure out what's unique and cool about you, you'll reach your goals a lot faster."
The Globetrotters will be at the Royal Farms Arena March 25, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Follow Cassie Carlisle on Twitter@CassieABC2 and Facebook@CassieCarlisleABC2
