'Basketball Cop' Stretching Fame Into Foundation

In January, a group of Gainesville, Florida, kids and local police officer Bobby White went viral after White responded to a noise complaint in a neighborhood. The kids, it turned out, were only playing pick-up basketball.

Rather than scold the youngsters, White played with them, dunked on them and told the children to stay out of trouble.

The cordialness was seen around the world, thanks to White's dash cam. Soon after, Shaquille O'Neal stopped by the street hoop to hang with the kids. White and the group were honored at Orlando Magic and Florida Gators games.

The story could have ended there. It would have been a nice tale of kindness, and White and the kids could have been satisfied with their 15 minutes of fame.

Instead, the group is only getting started. White came up with an idea: build a court in one of the nine kids' yards. With the help of a local business, that dream became a reality within a month. The hashtag #HOOPSNOTCRIME appears on the court.

"There's millions of people that see this video that are touched by this video and by what we're doing, so I can't imagine what millions of people contributing can turn into for an infinite number of kids," White says. "It's pretty exciting."

With the help of Harlem Globetrotter Buckets Blakes, White and the kids opened the court. Blakes schooled the youngsters, humbling them on and off the court.

"You have to pay it forward, so you got a remember all the little things in life no matter how successful you become," Blades says. "I'm just hoping they walk away with the fact that when they get older they'll have to help somebody one day and hopefully they see that. Somebody looked out for them and gave them the opportunity to have something by building a basketball court."

Outside of his police work, White has a new interest. He is forming an organization, the Basketball Cop Foundation, which will "deliver resources to local neighborhood kids and apartment complexes that can utilize new basketball equipment."

"I'm so happy for these kids," White says. "They're just having a blast. Is there any end in sight? I hope not. I hope there's no end of the story. You know there's an infinite number of kids that we can affect with this and not only basketball but with other progress with kids."

The Basketball Cop Foundation went live Thursday night and can be found on Facebook and Twitter and by following the hashtag #HoopsNotCrime.

-- Follow Jeffrey Eisenband on Twitter @JeffEisenband.