Kevin Daley hasn't lost a basketball game since 2004, but he's not a winner when it comes to setting world records.
Daley, who is known as "Special K," plays for the Harlem Globetrotters, which last lost a game in 1971 to the Washington Generals, but he recently failed in two attempts to set world records for spinning a basketball on his nose and on his head.
"I'd like to set the record for world's prettiest basketball player," Daley told a crowd at Book Expo America, where he was helping promote Guinness World Records. "After that, maybe I'll spin it on my nose."
Daley actually attempted to beat two standing records. First, he aimed to beat the longest duration spinning a basketball on the nose: 5.1 seconds, which was set by Daley's teammate, Scooter Christensen, at the NBA All-Star Jam Session in Dallas, Texas, on Feb. 13, 2010. Second, he wanted to beat the record for the longest duration spinning a basketball on the head: 18.11 seconds, which was set by Mehmet Kekec of Germany in Hamburg, Germany, on May 28, 2011.
As you might imagine, there's a trick to spinning a ball on one's nose.
"The first thing is, you got to have a big nose like myself and my teammate, Scooter," Daley told The Huffington Post. "Then I just try to keep my head [back], put the ball [on the nose], and hope for the best.
"You can't spin it too fast," he added. "Otherwise, it won't stay on the nose. You got to get the right spin. There's a lot of trial and error."
In Daley's case, there was a lot of error. His best attempt for spinning the ball on his nose was around two seconds.
"Any other secrets, I'm the wrong guy to ask because Scooter is the one with the record," Daley lamented. "I need to find out his secrets."
Daley seemed more sure of his technique for spinning a ball on his head.
"I have an advantage being bald," he laughed. "I put it right on [the head] and try to balance it as much as you can. Again, you can't spin it too fast. It takes a lot of trial and error to get the feel."
Daley is going to continue to "feel" bad: His attempt to break the record for ball spinning on the head was barely six seconds.
Still, Daley isn't completely shut out of the Guinness book. He currently owns the world record for the farthest basketball hook shot for sinking one from 46.5 feet, which he set on Feb. 13, 2010, at the NBA All-Star Jam Session.
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