Last summer a good friend of mine and his two brothers decided to try to break several basketball Guinness World Records. Read the interview below to find out if they did!

Q. When did you start playing basketball? How many years have you played? Do you still play?

A. I think I started playing basketball in the first grade at the YMCA. Then, in the third grade, I switched to rec basketball at St. Mark’s. In the seventh grade was when I actually started playing for St. Mark’s. I then played for two years at Andale High School. I think that totals up to ten years of basketball. I do not play competitively, but I still play with my brothers, at the Rec Center for fun, and on intramural teams.

Q. What is your favorite part about the sport? Is it your favorite sport?

A. I am a competitive person, so I have always liked its competitive aspect. I also like the fast pace of basketball. I also like the team aspect. I do not know if I really know what my favorite part about the sport is, haha. To be honest, I am not sure what my favorite sport is. I always say that my favorite sport rotates with the season. When it is basketball season, basketball is my favorite sport. When it is football season, football is my favorite sport.

Q. When and why did you decide to try to break some of the Harlem Globetrotters’ records?

A. My brothers and I really decided to try to break some records at the beginning of last summer. The summer before, I had had the idea to make a YouTube channel for my brothers and I as something that we could do together throughout the summer. We had fun with it, but nothing really went big, so we thought we would try to start off the summer with something big for our YouTube channel, Gentlemen Swag.

Q. How many records and which ones did you break?

A. I broke a total of 7 records. These included the World’s Longest Hookshot (74ft), the World’s Longest Kneeling Backwards shot (61ft), the World’s Longest Behind-the-Back shot (37ft), the World’s Longest Blindfolded shot (75ft) (Nate picked on me on this one), the World’s Longest Headshot (38ft), the World’s Longest Blindfolded Hook shot (60ft), and the World’s most Figure-Eights around legs with a basketball (62)

Q. Which was the hardest to accomplish?

A. I think the hardest to accomplish was either the blindfolded hook shot or the blindfolded shot. It added in an extra element when I was not able to see where the ball was going after shooting it.

Q. How many tries did it take before you finally broke a record?

A. I am not sure I can actually give you a numerical value here. There were definitely some that were easier than the others. Let’s just say that there was several hours of deleted film.

Q. Are you the official record holder for these tricks now?

A. Sadly, I am not the official record holder for these tricks quite yet. Once we posted this video, we sent all the information into the Guinness World Records, and we got accepted through the first round of the process, which took several months. Somewhere around November, we sent in all the information needed for the final stage of the process, so hopefully we will hear back before long with some positive results.

Q. Has anyone else in your family broken any basketball records?

A. Both of my younger brothers also broke at least one record. Nathan broke two records: the World’s Longest Drop-Kick shot, and the most shots made over the backboard in a minute. Logan broke the record for the longest shot between the legs. These are all still in the pending stages, as well.

Q. Do you plan on trying to break any more records in the future?

A. My brothers and I do plan on trying other records somewhere in the future. We have our eyes on several that we would like to give a shot at.

Q. What is your favorite basketball memory? Or what would your advice be to young basketball athletes?

A. I have quite a few good basketball memories. In my freshman year of high school, we were playing Collegiate (one of our biggest rivals) at Collegiate, and I had like a 24 point game, which was my highest ever. I also have a lot of great memories throughout my freshman year with the team. Because of our coach, we had a really fun season. Freshman year was probably my favorite year of basketball.

I do not really think I am one to give advice, but if you want me to give some, I would have to say that practice does not make perfect. Simply going through the motions at practice will never help you. It is perfect practice that makes perfect. Always push yourself the extra distance. 

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You can watch Taylor and his brothers break these records here.