Nampa police, kids get hoop from basketball-playing Florida officer

About 25 police officers and more than 50 kids, plus assorted media cameras, showed up for a pickup basketball game at Nampa’s Karcher Mobile Home Park Wednesday afternoon.

The occasion was the donation of a basketball hoop from the #HoopsNotCrime foundation launched by a Florida police officer who went viral for playing basketball with some kids. Nampa police caught the foundation’s eye earlier this year with a viral video of their own, showing officers responding to a report about kids playing baseball by playing ball with the kids.

Nampa officers said this week’s donation makes Idaho the third state to receive a hoop from the foundation of Gainesville Police Officer Bobby White, who drew got national attention when he played basketball with kids who had 911 called on them for shooting hoops. He returned for a second game, this time bringing along Shaquille O’Neal, then started a foundation to raise money to donate basketball hoops to kids across the country as a way to promote healthy activities and decrease crime.

This story was originally published April 6, 2016 at 10:35 AM with the headline "Nampa police, kids get hoop from basketball-playing Florida officer."