Have you ever wanted something so bad that time didn’t matter? The setting and rising of the sun did little to kill your drive. Your will was too great that it just slaughtered time. A few times when I was younger, I took upwards of 2,000 shots in one night. One night in particular stands out: freshman year of college. My roommate and I hit the gym after dinner. We were there so long the facility closed up because everyone thought it was empty. By midnight, a security guard kicked us out. Each of us had taken around 1,000 shots and yet we had been there for what seemed like forever. Well, Dave Cummings doesn’t fear time.
On Friday, November 11 – Veteran’s Day – the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame will provide a special event to watch Dave Cummings make free throw number 1,000,000. One million. You read that right. To raise both awareness and funds for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, Cummings has been shooting freebies almost literally non-stop over the past two years. During that time, he’s averaging 1,300 a day. Insane stuff. At No. 911 of each day, he stops to say a prayer for the fallen Americans.
“On behalf of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame we are thrilled to share this monumental moment with Dave, as he continues his efforts to raise awareness for war veterans,” said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.” We are grateful for all of the men and women in the military that have served and are currently serving our country.”
Along the way, Cummings hit some truly crazy numbers:
April 9, 2011: Cummings made 10,000 foul shots in six and a half hours.
April 17, 2011: He reached 750,000 at home while recovering from the flu.
September 2, 2011: Cummings set a world record by making 21,000 free throws in a less than 24 hours in tribute to a fallen New Hampshire soldier (Army SPC. Marc Decoteau) and his family.
The final 1,000 baskets will be made at Center Court within the Hall of Fame (I love how we hear 1,000 and look at that as nothing after one freaking million. That’s A LOT of shots). The event is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. and fans are encouraged to attend. The millionth basket will be made at approximately 11:11 am to mark the numerical significance of this year’s Veteran’s Day.
With so much time on their hands, some NBA players should’ve been doing stuff like this during the summer. Rajon Rondo and Dwight Howard, you have no excuses for not hitting free throws. If they wanted support from their fans and the public, this would’ve been the best way to get it.
What would get you to do something like this?
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