Zendaya and Tom Holland’s Slam Dunk Surprise: Hollywood Stars Showcase Basketball Skills during Inspiring Visit to Oakland School
Tom Holland and Zendaya are competing on the basketball court for a worthy cause!
The two demonstrated their basketball prowess on Friday during an event hosted by the nonprofit basketball organization Hoopbus at a school in Oakland, California, Zendaya’s birthplace.
Elvin Rodriguez, a basketball player and Hustle actor, shared a video of Zendaya, 26, helping a shot on Instagram. Zendaya threw the ball in the air, and Rodriguez, sporting a HoopBus T-shirt, caught it and hurled it into the net, receiving applause from the crowd.
In the caption, Rodriguez wrote, “@zendaya with the Lob!.” The charity, whose Los Angeles arm uses a 40-foot yellow school bus with hoops on it to bring basketball to the community, said, “ZENDAYA deserves a TEN-DAYA .”
In a separate video shared by HoopBus and Regular Hoops on Instagram, 27-year-old Holland was shown some amazing basketball abilities by Harlem Globetrotters player Sam Diaz while he was present at the school. The basketball player, who was also sporting a HoopBus t-shirt, showed off some amazing spins and tricks with the ball for Holland while the students looked on.
“Tom Holland’s latest Spiky moves ️,” the caption read.
Christon Staples, a former cast member of The Bachelorette, also gave Holland a basketball lesson. In an Instagram video, he can be seen spinning a ball on his finger and then passing it to the actor to demonstrate the move.
While boyfriend Holland stood to the side, Zendaya gave a quick address to the youngsters during the visit, which was recorded on camera and shared by a local basketball coach. In the video, the actress stated, “I just came to say hi to all of you and see your beautiful faces— and let’s have a great time playing basketball.”
“Well, since I haven’t played basketball since I was a child, I’m not going to play. I might twist my ankle, so we’re not going to do that,” Zendaya added in jest.
We’ve got some special visitors stopping by today to say (what) hi to the kids and grab some pictures on the @thehoopbus. With a focus on basketball, the non-profit Project Blackboard was also involved, the coach, whose Instagram handle is @coachhawkinsumes, wrote in the caption for the video of the actress’s speech, “S/o @project_backboard @kizzithompson and @adiamillett and everyone involved in such a fantastic project.”
“It was truly amazing to witness the happiness of the kids, thanks to @zendaya & @tomholland2013!” he posted, tagging #GivingBackToTheCommunity #TownBiz #Oakland.
Later, the Dune actress tagged Hoopbus in a picture she shared on Instagram Stories showing Holland honing his dribbling technique in front of a school bus. Zendaya and the actor from Spider-Man also took some time to pose for pictures, which Rodriguez also posted on Instagram.
The two’s school visit comes after Zendaya discussed in a recent interview that was released earlier this week how she manages to maintain a private life while being in the spotlight.
When asked about the public interest in her relationship with Holland, Zendaya told Elle, “I accept that parts of my life will be public.” “It is impossible for me to be a person, go about my life, and love the person I love.”
“But also, I do have control over what I choose to share,” the actress added. She appears on Elle’s September cover. It’s about not being frightened to exist, about letting things be your own, and about defending the peace. You are unable to hide. That is also not enjoyable. Right now, I’m navigating it more than ever.