21-Year-Old From Egypt Broke A Harlem Globetrotters Record
In a gym in Egypt, 21-year-old basketball player Alie Wessam set two Guinness World Records in the same day. The first was the farthest basketball hook shot ever recorded, made from a distance of 25.26 metres, or 82 feet and 10 inches, a one-handed arc thrown from the side with the ball released over the head, sent cleanly through the basket from the other side of the court. The second was the farthest basketball shot made backwards, with Wessam turning away from the basket and launching the ball from 27.60 metres, or 90 feet and 6 inches. That second record belonged to Corey Thunder Law of the Harlem Globetrotters, who had set it in Georgia in October 2024 from 26.72 metres, or 87 feet and 8 inches. Wessam beat it by nearly three feet. When Guinness asked how it felt to take a record from one of the most famous trickshot organizations in the history of basketball, Wessam was clear that he had immense respect for everything the Globetrotters had accomplished, and that as a competitor his goal was always to push further.
Wessam, who has played for the Egyptian National Basketball Team, told Guinness that he had dreamed of seeing his name in the record books since he was a child, watching the Harlem Globetrotters and imagining the kind of shots that might one day be possible with enough practice and preparation. He said breaking one of their records was something he never imagined would actually happen. He also hinted that this is only the beginning: he said he had already attempted several other records unofficially and surpassed existing marks in practice sessions that were not formally certified, and that his goal is to return with proper adjudication and break another 10 to 15 records with the right support and preparation. Guinness published the certifications in July 2026. Wessam is 21 years old and appears to be entirely serious about all of this, which given what he did in a gym in Alexandria on a single afternoon, seems entirely reasonable.
