In Bond’s first session
@humbledevelopment , Justin looked at him and said, “That’s not good enough, do it again.” He was 5. And honestly, that lit something in Bond. Next thing I knew, we were training with
@humbledevelopment 2 x per week.
Justin told me, “I spend more time with the HMBL kids than a lot of their family.” And that stuck with me. Because the time these kids spend on the court — with their trainers, with their teammates — it creates a bond that people who never played team sports might never fully get. Bond had his tonsils removed and Just’s first words were “What hospital is he in?, I’ll pull up.
Justin doesn’t care if you’re Deron Rippey, my son, or Kiyan Anthony — he treats all the HMBL kids the same. He pours into them.
He’s a hustler. Head down. Clock in, clock out, no complaints. But he was always a gym away — always searching for space. We used to joke, “All you need is a gym.”
@jasonwstein and I met shortly post COVID. Jason and his son Mo were looking to hoop back in 2021. We met for the first time in Bed-Stuy at StuyDome. Jason is one of the most curious, relentless problem-solvers I’ve ever been around.
So I tossed up a lob — and Justin and Jason clicked right away. From February until now, they’ve been building the answer Brooklyn’s been missing: not just another gym, but a real reimagining of what a basketball space in the Mecca should be.
@madehoops ×
@humbledevelopment is about to be something different. There are a ton of gyms out here — but none built by a native son of Brooklyn, someone who actually grew up hooping in every gym and on every court in this city.
This is a huge win for
@madehoops … but honestly, an even bigger win for Brooklyn — for
@humbledevelopment and for my guy
@humblestudd . I know what this means for him
Congrats fellas 👏🏽
