Hundreds gathered at Seaholm’s Gymnasium Sunday to attend former Detroit Tigers centerfielder Curtis Granderson’s third annual Celebrity Shoot-Out charity basketball game.
The event, a fundraiser for his Grand Kids charity, was Granderson’s farewell to Detroit as he departs to New York for the upcoming MLB season. Fans were treated to a close game, a 59-57 win for the Black team.
Michigan-connected celebrities played a friendly game of five on five basketball -- all for a good cause.
The White team featured Michigan State University football star T.J. Duckett, MSU basketball starts Antonio Smith, Mateen Cleaves and Dateline NBC reporter Chris Hansen.
The Black team starred former Harlem Globetrotter “The 8th Wonder”, Michigan Fab Fiver Jalen Rose, and former U of M wide receivers Desmond Howard and Tai Streets.
“I will do anything for the kids. I love that I got the opportunity to get involved,” Streets said. “I learned about a month in advance and asked if I could be a part of the event.”
The packed gym filled with fans of Granderson and those participating in the event, ranging from past football players to Seaholm Principal Terry Piper.
“The game was a great event in every way,” Piper said. “We raised thousands of dollars for the Curtis Granderson foundation and I really enjoyed being apart of it."
Before the game, a video tribute covered Granderson’s time here in Detroit and how he interacted with the community. It played heavily on the theme of following your dreams.
“I always wanted to do an event like this, but I thought I couldn’t do this until I made a name for myself,” said Granderson. “I get personal joy out of achieving dreams for kids.”
After the video, Seaholm’s own Shea Renne gave a strong performance of the national anthem.
The game began with a bang when the 8th Wonder, threw down a one handed dunk to open up the scoring. The Black team was favored throughout the game by the fans and was coached by Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brian Rafalski.
“I was honored to be a coach,” Rafalski said. “It’s great meeting all the people but really anything to help kids and the community.”
After going up by 12 points, the Black team backed off and allowed the White team to get back within seven until ESPN’s Jemele Hill drained a long two point shot as time expired, leaving the halftime score at 33-28, advantage black team.
During the half, Maple Motion gave a high-energy performance. Granderson then raffled off and hand-delivered memorabilia, including signed baseball bats, gift cards, his cleats, and even signed World Baseball Classic baseballs, one of which senior Dan Bailey won.
“It was crazy,” Bailey said. “I wasn’t expecting to win. It was really cool to shake his hand.”
Beginning the second half, both teams’ shooters were hot and the competition was heating up, while referee announcer Granderson began having fun with the players.
He cited the 8th Wonder for being un-registered to play, took bribes from ESPN’s Dana Jacobson and awarded the White team six free throws for “too aggressive of defense”.
The crowd ate it up.
“It was really funny seeing the players pick on each other,” junior Jacob Kiehle said. “It was a really fun event with just ridiculous calls throughout.”
Although the Celebrities were the only scheduled players for the shootout, children sitting courtside were selected at random to be guest shooters for either team at the free throw line.
“Just being able to interact with the community and put smiles on people’s faces really was what I was looking forward to,” FSN Detroit reporter Trevor Thompson said.
The game slowly came to a close, as each team was held scoreless for the last 30 seconds as the black team took the win by a twopoint margin. Scoring 21 points, the 8th Wonder took MVP honors.
But the real winner, Granderson said, was the Grand Kids Foundation.
“I think this event was very successful,” Granderson said. “We packed the gym, we raised a lot of money for education and we just had fun. I didn’t view it as a goodbye to Detroit as much as I viewed it as a thank you to the city and the fans. They are who have helped shape me as a player and person, and I will always be grateful for that.”
Although he didn’t play, boys varsity basketball coach Jose Andrades enjoyed directing the Black team to the win.
“I just got to spend time with some great people and great athletes,” said Andrades. “I got to have fun while raising money for a good cause.”
Nobody was more proud than Granderson, the organization’s founder. After the game, a happy Granderson gave an upbeat speech and thanked everyone for their time and effort towards himself and the foundation.
“I thank all of you for my time in Detroit,” Granderson said. “Without the fans, I am nothing, I appreciate everyone coming here and allowing me to leave Detroit on such a positive note. Thank you.”
