NOT even Inside The NBA could take away its eyes away from "the Fiba mop guy."
Shaquille O'Neal's hilarious Shaqtin' a Fool turned the spotlight to Toy "The Mop Guy" as he was voted as this week's winner in Shaq's long-running segment.
Garnering 52 percent of the votes, the Angolan mop man's antics got the better (or worse, however you want to look at it) of the fan votes.
That put Toy in front of the list of this week's lowlights, ahead of Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball's botched open lane off-the-bounce dunk, Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert punching the stanchion and not paying attention to defense after his block on Portland Trailblazers' Damian Lillard, and Los Angeles Clippers guard Reggie Jackson's double lay-up wedgie against the Dallas Mavericks.
"Let's hire this guy to clean Studio J!" said Shaq.
"What the hell?" added Charles Barkley, to which Kenny Smith responded: "Watch the second one, he starts going crazy mopping the floor."
Fiba Mop Guy shoots to fame
One really help but smile seeing Toy do his thing — the same way he stole the show at the 2023 Fiba World Cup African qualifiers.
Toy, whose real name Antonio Van-Dunem, has been flipping and tumbling all over the court over the weekend in his quest to keep the court dry at Pavilhao Multiusos Acacias Rubras in Benguela, Angola.
"The show I put on is to cheer up the fans. Most people think that I'm here just to mop, but I'm not," he said in an interview with Fiba.
Toy actually has been doing this for over two decades. His first stint was at the 1999 Fiba Africa Championship.
Though his part seems meager on the court, it's one that Toy takes seriously.
"My true adversary is the court floor. With my agility, up and down the court, not even the referee notices that I'm there. He is surprised to see when he sees the court dry again," he declared. "I take care of the players and the referees. If someone slips, then it's the mop guy's fault. So to avoid that, I need to be fast and dynamic."
He sure has done his job well — though we'd argue with the statement that "no one notices that he's there." When he does his thing, you sure can't take away your eyes off of Toy.
But he's more than just "the mop guy." Van-Dunem also has bigger plans outside of the court.
"In the future, my plan is to run my own cleaning company. Also, to teach some young men to keep my work alive and to contribute to mitigating crime in Angola," he said.
Here's to hoping we could see Toy the Mop Guy here in Manila for the World Cup itself come 2023.
Do it, SBP!
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