Tommy Baker captivates his audience as he performs his basketball freestyle show at live events all over the world. The following pages will take you on a whistle stop tour of the publicity gathered at some of these events, with photo's & video footage included. This blog page is updated at least once a week, so come back to see the latest news on where Tommy has been performing. You can also see where Tommy will be appearing next...

March 2008 - Tommy Baker Article in USA Bounce Magazine

Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. ‘Kool Bob Love’ the Co-Founder of the USA Bounce Magazine invited Tommy to feature in the March 2008 edition of the magazine.

You can download the article by right clicking and ’save target as’. The 4mb file will take few seconds to appear:

 
Tommy’s live performance at the NBA Jam Session featured on the Bounce web site:
 
A message from Bobbito Garcia from Bounce:
“Tommy! Thanks for the shout. If any of your site’s visitor’s would like to purchase Bounce’s spring issue #14 that you are featured in, they can simply go to www.bouncemag.com, click on ‘online store’ off the top menu, and order. Good luck with everything and hope to meet you finally soon. Bob”
 

February 2008 - NBA All-Star Weekend In New Orleans

The NBA All-Star weekend provided Tommy with the biggest stage of his basketball career so far. The NBA used Tommy’s basketball tricks and performances to entertain the many thousands of fans that came into ‘The Jam Session’.

The NBA Jam Session is a major event for the fans during the All-Star weekend enabling them to participate in basketball activities as well being a spectator. Below are a few live clips from the many shows that Tommy performed over the weekend, and a few photo’s of some of the celebrates that Tommy crossed paths with at the event.

Chris Tucker.jpg Jason Kapono.jpg
.

Tommy meets with Chris Tucker (above left) from the ‘Rush Hour’ movies at the ‘NBA Jam Session. Tommy also came across Jason Kapono (above right) who had just set a new world record for the most amount of 3 point scores in two minutes. This followed his landslide victory in the NBA Footlocker Shootout the night before at ‘All-Star Saturday Night’, when he equaled the NBA record in his final round with 25 points.

Here is an unedited clip from one of Tommy’s many performances over the All-Star Weekend at ‘Jam Session’

Jack Ryan.jpg
.

Tommy made a great friend with New York Legend ‘Jack Ryan’ aka ‘Black Jack’. Jack is a great basketball entertainer with a powerful life’s story that has been bought by Fox and is currently being made into a movie. Watch out for more from Jack Ryan…

Below you watch Jack and Tommy being interviewed by Jason ‘White Shadow’ Gibbons:

February 2008 - Street Godz Competition

Tommy wins his second Street Godz competition as the new Nike Jordan ‘23′ shoes are released for sale.

.

The Professor.jpg tommy rehearsal.jpg
.

‘The Professor’ (above left) from the ‘And1′ streetball team watches as Tommy wins his second Street Godz competition.

shadow.JPG Raphael Edwards.jpg stage.JPG

Tommy warms up with Jason ‘Shadow’ Gibbons (pictured left) and then meets with Raphael Edwards from Street Godz after winning the competition.

Tommy Baker - Fitness with James Marshall from Excelsior

Tommy’s strength and conditioning is closely associated with James Marshall from Excelsior www.excelsiorgroup.co.uk

James Marshall (pictured below) has helped Tommy to reach his strength and fitness goals. In order to maximize his potential Tommy has had effective advice on his diet, rest and training schedule.

rfu.jpg
To see and read the latest news on fitness and conditioning visit the training blog below:

http://excelsiorgroup.blogspot.com/

December 2007 - Basketball Tricks Halftime Show…

This is a short clip from Tommy’s latest halftime show at the Newcastle Arena for the BBL League in the UK.  Tommy spends many hours everyday in rehearsal developing and refining his act in order to perform a live basketball tricks show like no other.  Tommy has many more tricks and routines that he is on the verge of performing at his next live show… enjoy,

October 2007 - Diesel Fashion Show - Padova, Italy

Tommy’s ability to adapt his basketball show was shown once again as his was invited to dress up and act out the role of a ‘roady’ as he opened a fashion show for the youth clothing brand ‘Diesel’.

Tommy (in character) wheeled his Diesel flight case containing his basketballs in front of an expectant crowd and performed his array of basketball tricks in front of 600 Diesel executives from around the world. He open the fashion show on the cat-walk in explosive style as he instantly engaged his audience with his performance.

Tommy opens the fashion show on the Cat-walk

Diesel 02.jpg Diesel 01.jpg

The Diesel Fashion Show

Diesel 06.jpg  Diesel 08.jpg Diesel 07.jpg

Back stage with the models :)

Deisel 04.jpg Deisel 05.jpg Deisel 03.jpg

September 2007 - Street Godz Freestyle Competition (Streetgodz)

In a brand new trend to the already exploding basketball freestyle culture comes a basketball tricks competition.

It was a very close competition with many rounds having to be repeated due to the high level of tricks and performances from all the competitors. In the end Tommy managed to win the the title along with the first prize of $2000.00. The event was sponsored by Red Bull. Look out for more Streetgodz competitions in the future, and watch this blog for some extended video footage of the event… hopefully coming soon :)

Streetgodz 01.jpg Streetgodz 03.jpg

“With Street Godz and freestyle basketball in general, the rules are not conventional to a basketball game and there are no boundaries for them. Their creativity is limitless and with freestyle basketball, there is no time off. It’s as far as the mind can think… The scoring is based on style, charisma, how they get the crowd excited, difficulty of moves, how sharp the moves are and obviously we deduct a lot of points if you actually loose the ball. It’s basically showmanship, we judge on all that.”

Quote from Raphael Edwards (Founder of Streetgodz)

Streetgodz 06.jpg Streetgodz 05.jpg Streetgodz 07.jpg

Here is a short promotional clip of the event from Press Pass TV:

You can find out more information about the new Streetgodz movement at the following sites:

www.myspace.com/sgodz

www.bouncemag.com/2007/10/10/streetgodz-freestyle-challenge-rules/

www.slamonline.com/online/2007/10/ballin’-outta-control/

www.dimemag.com/2007/02/24/streetgodz

Streetgodz 04.jpg Streetgodz 02.jpg

Also, here is footage of earlier Street Godz competitions:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky1UPI69oe4

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtzG_KCmCQ4

August 2007 - Rabo Streetball Tour Final, Amsterdam

Tommy had the opportunity to perform his streetball show in Holland at the Rabo Streetball Finals www.streetballtour.nl

Tommy is now being promoted in various basketball leagues around the world in association with www.sportconsult.com, please contact Jip Zwezerijnen to find out more details on how to book Tommy to perform at your basketball game, camp, clinic or streetball event.

May 2007 - Tommy Baker & The Harlem Globetrotters - Birmingham, UK

Tommy had a chance to hang out with the world famous Harlem Globetrotters before a game in Birmingham (UK) on May 18th 2007.

The Harlem Globetrotters are a basketball team that travel all over the world. They play world class basketball mixed in with hilarious player personalities. Comedy and spectacular stunts throughout the game keep you on the edge of your seat. They use some of the greatest atheletes on the planet!

“To see the Harlem Globetrotters perform live is something that you will remember for the rest of your life” - Tommy Baker

Below is a short clip from that night before the game along with some photos:

The Harlem Globetrotters inspired Tommy in his early years to develop his confidence through learning and perfecting basketball tricks. This was also an integral part of Tommy’s rehabilitation after a near fatal road traffic accident that left Tommy with severe head injuries as a young boy.

IMG_0938.jpg IMG_0948.jpg

 NIA 002.jpg IMG_0946.jpg IMG_0945.jpg

May 2007 - UEFA Cup Football Final - Glasgow, UK

Tommy switched his act, his identitiy and his basketballs for footballs once again as he stamped his brand of football trickery and freestyle juggling skills at the Union of European Football Associations (a.k.a UEFA) cup final in Glasgow on 16th May 2007. Tommy was performing in the ‘fan zone’ in George Square during the day before the game.

IMG_0741.jpg IMG_0772.jpg IMG_0728.jpg

IMG_0742.jpg IMG_0743.jpg

Also performing with Tommy was football freestyle legend ‘Rob Walters’ www.robwalterssoccer.com, and Carlos Salvador who featured in the Nke ‘Stickman’ advert (2003) as he pulled his hat from his head with the football still on it.

Next Page »