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THE BLACKTOP — Athletes of all different sports will sing the praises of a great shoe.
With a frequent marathoner for a dad, I was one of the few teenage girls whose fathers had a more impressive shoe collection than mine.
To this day, worn Nike sneakers from the 1990’s will start popping up like weeds if you search through my parents’ closets. And if enduring crazes like Air Jordans, Supreme and celebrity shoe brands have proven anything, it’s that the worth of shoes in sports and society extends far beyond running.
So, when Ethan Emilo Guzman saw a boy from his apartment complex playing basketball without footwear, he couldn’t help but intervene.
According to Guzman's Instagram, the boy told Guzman he was playing shoeless because he had always played barefoot or with sandals in the Dominican Republic.
With broken Spanish and the best of intentions, Guzman immediately ran upstairs to grab his brand new pair of basketball sneakers and a set of socks to match.
In this video you'll see he doesn’t hesitate to give them away.
He noticed a boy playing basketball without shoes, so he gave him one of his own pairs ❤️ (via where_is_ethan4/IG) pic.twitter.com/rKZCQLzzyH
— Overtime (@overtime) July 8, 2019
Overjoyed, the boy drops the basketball and rushes into his apartment to show his mom. Notice that the shoes are cradled like a prized possession in his arms.
The smile on both of the boys’ faces is all but infectious, and a proud dad encouraging his son’s kindness is all the wholesomeness we could ask for.
So yes, shoes can mean everything to an athlete, but sometimes giving them away can be far more valuable.
