Josh Gomes: My Eritrean brother can dunk; he just wanted a little help this time

Basketball pro Josh Gomes teams up with Johnno, age 7
 at Levinsky Park in South Tel Aviv

Josh Gomes and I are family. Yup. Most of the kids buzzing around Josh arrived in Israel with their parents to escape genocide, war, and hunger. They are refugees, asylum seekers, or migrant workers — legal and the other kind. All the kids begged the gentle, towering American to notice, coach, and play with them as they passed, blocked, and aimed balls at the basket. "He's a real player! He's a real player! gasped 11-year-old Joseph, who recognized Josh from TV coverage.

The international team of players, with roots in Israel, Sudan, Darfur, the Philippines, Eritrea, and Russia all speak Hebrew plus two or more languages; within nanoseconds, they bonded with their instant hero. Their common language? Smiles, hugs, and, a rich patois stew of Hebrew and Arabic among the kids and, between them and Josh, bits of English they know and Hebrew phrases Josh learned during his three seasons playing professional basketball on Israeli teams.

Volunteer Maureen Milham hugs Johnno
flanked by Josh and me

Maureen supplied the basketballs from her U.S. Army surplus backpack, stamped in green letters, "Humanitarian Aid." A fitting name for this oasis in space and time of friendship, play, and joy.

My related posts

• In Tel Aviv: Levinsky Park (includes video)
• At Bialik-Rogozin School, shooting baskets with Josh Gomes (includes video)
• Josh Gomes is scoring points for Israel (includes video)
• In Tel Aviv: The orange on the Passover seder plate