Kevin Alex Daley Hewitt (born October 7, 1976) is a Panamanian former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters is an American Exhibition game, exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 ...

. He also played on the Panama national team.

Early life

Daley was born in

Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...

. He grew up in

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

, and graduated from Artesia High in

Lakewood, California Lakewood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 82,496 at the 2020 census. It is bordered by Long Beach on the west, northwest and south, Bellflower on the north, Cerritos on the northeast, Cypress on t ...

College career

Daley played as a freshman for

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. However, he grew homesick and transferred to the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA). After sitting out a year, he played as a sophomore for the Bruins in 1997–98. Unhappy with the limited playing time he received, he transferred again to

Azusa Pacific University Azusa Pacific University (APU) is a private evangelical research university in Azusa, California, United States. The university was founded in 1899 in Whittier, California, with classes first held on March 3, 1900, and degrees offered in 193 ...

. Daley led the Cougars to the NAIA Final Four, and earned the Conference Most Valuable Player honors in 2000.

Professional career

He played overseas in Australia, Taiwan, the Netherlands and for the Panama national team before joining the

after they saw him play in a 2004 summer league. Kevin played with the Globetrotters for 10 years and performed shows in both Spanish and English. During the team's 2005 World Tour, Daley played as a dunker and Showman.

After basketball

In 2007, Daley became an American citizen. He also received a Sociology degree from Ashford University in 2010. Since retiring from basketball Daley has written an autobiography called “I Never Stopped Smiling”, and delivered speeches based on it, as well as working as a Sales Director for Velocity Global. In 2023, Kevin Daley made his acting debut in the feature film '' Sweetwater''. He also coordinated the basketball scenes in the film.

Michael Jordan's double

Daley was a

body double In filmmaking, a double is a person who substitutes for another actor such that the person's face is not shown. There are various terms associated with a double based on the specific body part or ability they serve as a double for, such as stunt ...

portraying a young

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

in the

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...

2002 commercial "23 vs 39", in which a Bulls-era Jordan takes on his Wizards-era counterpart in a game of 1-on-1. The spot makers interposed a CGI reproduction of a young Jordan onto Daley's body and face in post-production.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daley, Kevin 1976 births Living people Azusa Pacific Cougars men's basketball players Galatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) players Harlem Globetrotters players Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball players Panamanian men's basketball players Sportspeople from Panama City UCLA Bruins men's basketball players 2006 FIBA World Championship players American men's basketball players Chinese Basketball Alliance imports Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in Taiwan American expatriate basketball people in Taiwan