Andre \u201cHot Shot\u201d Branch never missed watching the Harlem Globetrotters as a kid when they came to his hometown of Houston in the 1970s and early 1980s.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a fan before I became part of the team,\u201d said Branch, in a phone interview Friday.<\/p>\n
Branch, 35, is living his boyhood dream as a Globetrotter. And at 7 p.m. Feb. 18, he\u2019ll live that dream in front of more than 6,000 fans at the new ShoWare Center in Kent, when the stunt hoopers come to play.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a basketball game with a twist,\u201d said Branch, in his sixth season with the Globetrotters. \u201cOur goal is to get a lead so we can do the things people love us to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kent is one of more than 200 stops on the 2009 \u201cSpinning the Globe\u201d world tour by the Globetrotters.<\/p>\n
The team performs basketball wizardry and all sorts of antics, with plenty of audience interaction.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m getting a chance to do what I love to do, play basketball,\u201d Branch said. \u201cAnd I get a chance to interact with kids and everyone who is young at heart and bring smiles to their faces.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other players to watch include Big Easy Lofton, known as the Clown Prince of Basketball; dribbling-sensation Flight Time Lang; gravity-defying Hi Rise Brown; ball-handling extraordinaire Handles Franklin; fan favorite General Grant; and 7-foot-3 Skyscraper Alleyne.<\/p>\n
Lofton will be the man on the microphone at the game, entertaining the crowd before the game, during timeouts and after the game. Players stay around to sign autographs for as long as 30 minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful night of fun,\u201d Branch said.<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-4 Branch wears No. 9. He played at Baylor University in Waco, Texas in the mid-1990s and holds the school record for the most three-pointers in a season and in a career. But Branch didn\u2019t receive the nickname \u201cHot Shot,\u201d until he joined the Globetrotters, where every player has a nickname.<\/p>\n
\u201cShooting the basketball is my speciality,\u201d Branch said of his nickname.<\/p>\n
ShoWare Center officials expect the Globetrotters performance to be close to sold out by the end of the week. The arena seats 6,700 for basketball.<\/p>\n
The $62 court-side seats, $45 VIP and $25 sideline seats are already sold out, said Beth Sylves, ShoWare Center marketing director. Only $18 end-zone seats remain.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe event has sold very well,\u201d Sylves said.<\/p>\n
A few suites are available for the event. Suite prices start at $600 and can handle 12 to 18 people.<\/p>\n
The Globetrotters are in their 83rd season. The team splits into two squads to cover all of the playing dates. Other stops on the current Pacific Northwest trip include Everett, Spokane, Yakima and Portland.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s about 10 1\/2 months of travel,\u201d said Branch, who lives in Houston.<\/p>\n
The team mainly travels by bus, well-decorated on the outside with the Globetrotters name.<\/p>\n
The Globetrotters play against the Washington Generals, a traveling team of former college players. The Globetrotters almost always win.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an 83-year history,\u201d Branch said. \u201cPeople should come out and see what the hype is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more information, go to www.harlemglobetrotters.com.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
IF YOU GO<\/p>\n
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 18<\/p>\n
Where: ShoWare Center<\/p>\n
Cost: $18, only tickets left are end-zone seats<\/p>\n
Tickets: www.showarecenter.com or 253-856-6999<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Andre \u201cHot Shot\u201d Branch never missed watching the Harlem Globetrotters as a kid when they came to his hometown of Houston in the 1970s and early 1980s.
\n\u201cI was a fan before I became part of the team,\u201d said Branch, in a phone interview Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":212,"featured_media":811,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/212"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=810"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}