“Beach. Ball.” -- Dancin’ Hedo
A Micro-Oral History Of ‘Dancin’ Hedo Finds A Soulmate’
The TRUE story behind the best video from All-Star weekend.
Some dance to remember. Some dance to forget. But only Orlando Magic forward "Hedo Turkoglu" dances for party animals everywhere. And only one teammate is brave enough to join him!
The raging techno beat is still whirring after All-Star weekend. You remember: Sunscreen is applied to The Basketball Jones’ Tas Melas, who is cloaked in a Hedo Turkoglu Magic jersey. Pizza is offered to Glen “Big Baby” Davis, who has improbably decided to partake in this random adventure. Suddenly, the best thing from All-Star weekend is born and it has (almost) nothing to do with basketball -- or anything, really.
I interviewed the NBA-playing participants from the brilliant viral video that would come to be known as “Dancin’ Hedo finds a soulmate.”
The Set Up
The Basketball Jones are going to Orlando for All-Star Weekend. They get in touch with representation for Orlando Magic forward Glen Davis about a potential video project.
• Davis: “They told me the history of Basketball Jones, what they’ve been doing and I wanted to be a part of it. Nothing special, I just wanted to be a part of it -- thought it was hilarious”
The Dancing
Davis’ only compensation was a bite of pizza (from the shoot) and the fun that he had -- which it turned out he had a lot of.
• Davis: “Yeah, I like to dance. ... [The moves were] just what I had in store, especially for the music.”
The Reaction
The video debuted to universal delight! A sampling:
• Ben Swanson (@CardboardGerald): “OH MY GOD THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER”
• Ben Golliver (@blazersedge): “Yup, Tas Melas is a comedic genius”
• Jonah Keri (@JonahKeri): “Best Dancin’ Hedo ever. I salute you, Tas Melas (and surprise guest).”
The Most Important Reaction
Finally, Davis showed the video to the most important critic of all -- the *real* Hedo Turkoglu. He loved it.
• Turkoglu: “It cracked me up, man.”
The Next (Final?) Chapter
Hedo Turkoglu has a sense of humor. He knows “Ball” is his catch phrase. He allowed a wry smile when he suggested the Toronto fans will love to see him in a Magic jersey on Monday. Even so, there are not plans right now for actual Hedo to meet Dancin’ Hedo.
Turkoglu: “Don’t get too excited.”
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