Former Cavaliers guard and current Cleveland Charge coach Daniel "Booby" Gibson may not have been born in Northeast Ohio, but it has become a second home for him. Since being drafted by the Cavs in 2006, Gibson has found a home away from home here in Cleveland.
"I feel I'm an adopted son at this point. I feel like this is my second home. Got here when I was 19 years old, so I pretty much became a man here," Gibson said.
Before he got to Cleveland, however, Gibson experienced a life-altering tragedy with a close friend.
"When I was younger, one of my best friends was killed by gun violence for his shoes. And so it was so senseless and at the time I didn't know what to do with that energy," Gibson said. "I just started really focusing on basketball and in a way it catapulted me into being the basketball player that I am."
That experience shaped Gibson and taught him first-hand the pain that gun violence has on families, friends and entire communities. Living in Northeast Ohio once again, Gibson has seen what he experienced in his youth echoed here in his second home.
"I just started to hear about a lot of tragedies that were happening to a lot of families out here and I was just trying to find a way to bring some joy, find a way to create programs that could potentially keep kids out of trouble," he said.
To do that, Gibson has partnered with The P League, a basketball and sports organization sponsored by Browns defensive end Myles Garrett and YouTube star D’Vontay Friga, for a special community event—The "Booby Gibson's Stop the Violence All-Star Basketball Event" inside Garfield Heights High School.
A celebrity basketball game free for everyone under the age of 18, $10 for those 18 and up, will feature basketball players, rappers and other well-known names. A dunk contest and a three-point contest are among some of the activities guests can expect.
Nik Postoloski, owner of The P League, has hosted big events before—but this one has extra meaning behind it.
"We are doing a Stop the Violence event because in Cleveland it's rough right now, right? And I think in the game of sports it brings people together," he said. "If it's basketball, if it's gaming, if it's other things—it's just about giving the guys an outlet and the ladies an outlet to come out and stay out of the violence."
Gibson hopes that the event will serve as a springboard for stopping violence in not only Garfield Heights where the event is being held, but across Northeast Ohio.
"I know what [gun violence] can do to a family and I know what that can do to a person. And so I just wanted to find a way to give those families some support and in the best way I know how," Gibson said. "Just putting everybody in the same room with a fun event and just seeing if we can spark up those conversations so that it is not just another 'RIP' T-shirt and nothing's done about it. That once something like that happens, we can actually have things in place that can help it not happen again."
Booby Gibson's Stop the Violence All-Star Basketball Event will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 21, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
