Living with neighbors close by can mean your noise ends up being their noise. From music being too loud, to voices making a ton of noise, it can be hard to live in the suburbs. For one teenager, his dreams of being a star athlete means spending his days and nights practicing basketball. Every spare moment he has is given to preparing for future stardom.

But for Anthony Muobike, it also came with worry that he is bothering his close neighbors in the suburbs of Edmonton, Canada. When Muobike is not in school, he said, all his free time is focused on dribbling a basketball on his driveway. He began to worry, though, that his constant practicing was upsetting his neighbors. 

I thought that whenever I dribble, it made a racket and people want to sleep or something like that,” Muobike said.

He was right ‒ his neighbors had noticed. But not because of the noise. Instead, it was because of the teen’s potential. Ian Ray, who has lived near Muobike for 13 years, said he would always see the teen practicing, but realized he was missing one important item ‒ a basketball net. “He was just a kid who dribbled a basketball ‒ all day, all night,” Ray said. “I kind of figured it would be cool if he had a net.”

From left, Anthony Muobike and his neighbor, Ian Ray, stand together in front of the basketball that Ray and other neighbors bought for Muobike. Photo from YouTube

So Ray took to social media to see if he could find the budding athlete a net, and his family and friends didn’t disappoint. He got tons of offers from people who wanted to donate their used nets to Muobike.  When Canadian Tire saw the post, they reached out with an offer of a brand new net for the teenager. 

Residents also donated $750 for Muobike to use on new basketball clothes and gear.  But when the dreaded knock at the door came, the teen had no idea what his neighbors had done for him. “I come outside and I see a man I barely ever see,” Muobike said. “I just see the net and it didn’t even matter that it wasn’t built yet, it was just in the box. I was like, holy moly, that’s crazy.”

Anthony Muobike, second from left, and his neighbors and family members put up a basketball goal that was purchased for Muobike. Photo from YouTube

Muobike said that “It does touch my heart. It actually just makes me feel happy inside. It just makes my mind blow. Like wow.” The story instantly went viral, making its way to top basketball player and Muobike’s idol, Lebron James. James shared Muobike’s story on Instagram, calling it ‘pure and beautiful’.

To his neighbors, Muobike says he will repay the kindness someday. “I will succeed. I will be in the NBA … I’ll be there and then try to give back to those people and I will make them all proud. I will be up on your TV,” he said. Watch below to see Muobike and his neighbors come together for the sake of the teen’s dream!

Sources: My Positive Outlook | Global News | Mirror