FINDLAY, Ohio — Nothing but net. Eat your heart out, LeBron James.
From the same state where “King James” became a legend, a custodian at an Ohio middle school took a no-look half-court shot with his back to the basket -- and swished it easily before casually resuming his duties.
Joe Orians, who works at Liberty-Benton Middle School in Findlay, was caught on a surveillance camera Thursday in the school’s gym while cleaning, WTHR reported. While preparing to throw a trash bag away, Orians saw a basketball on the court and decided to try a shot, Principal Kyle Leatherman told the television station.
Orians walked to midcourt and launched the ball backward over his head, finding nothing but net. The custodian tossed his arms over his head in triumph, grabbed the trash bag and his vacuum cleaner, walking out of the gym, WTHR reported.
“I asked him why a half-court shot,” Leatherman told the television station in a Twitter message. “His response, ‘I had just as good of a chance to make the half-court shot as a layup. I’m not very good.’”
Leatherman tweeted a video of the shot, which has been viewed more than 165,000 times.
“Our custodian is better than yours. Just casually walking through the gym with no one watching but the security camera. Trick shot, nothing but net,” Leatherwood tweeted.
Leatherman said he has watched the video “countless” times and even tried to replicate the shot.
“I tried about 50 times after school and wasn’t even close,” Leatherman told WTHR.