Earlier today, four rival gangs came together at St. Sabina church for the Balling For Peace event put together by Father Michael Pfleger. Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and others were all on hand to take part in this peaceful event to help curb violence in the city.
Four rival gangs, community and church leaders, and NBA superstars all joined together Saturday afternoon in a gym for a basketball tournament geared towards ending violence in Chicago.
“You walk in that gym and you see the passion, the excitement, you see the smiles on the kids’ faces, you see kids who used to shoot each other playing ball with each other, You see D-Rose and Joakim Noah,” said St. Sabina’s Father Michael Pfleger, who organized the event “Balling for Peace” and asked the NBA stars to get involved. “You tell me anything is wrong with this? I’m in heaven right now.”
Pfleger organized the monumental, one day gang truce in the city, which included 28 kids playing from different gangs in neighborhoods hit hard by violence and crime.
The event gained some NBA star power assists from Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson on the Chicago Bulls along with other Chicago NBA stars Antoine Walker, Quentin Richardson and the legendary Isaiah Thomas. All of the NBA players who showed up on Saturday coached the teams, spoke at the event and encouraged the young people playing in the Peace Basketball Tournament.
Read more at NBC