Atlanta nonprofit to attempt world record for longest basketball game

ATLANTA - A metro Atlanta nonprofit that fights against human trafficking will soon attempt to set a new Guinness world record for the longest continuous basketball game.

The players with Men Opposing Sex Trafficking already have the record for the longest continuous basketball game.

What we know:

The 24 players are already getting in some practice ahead of the weekend.

The game is set to begin at 9 a.m. Sunday and is scheduled to end at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 21. 

To beat the record, players are required to stay in the gym nearly the entire time and will have to eat and sleep on the court. An exception is made for five-minute bathroom breaks, which can be taken every two hours.

There are no quarter breaks or timeouts.

Organizers say a minimum of five players must be on the court at all times and groups of six will play in two-hour shifts throughout the day with alternating five-hour shifts for sleeping overnight.

Any player who has six fouls in a two-hour window will be disqualified.

What they're saying:

"When we broke the world record for the longest softball game in September, not only did we feel the tremendous outpouring of support from the community, but we were also inspired by the number of people asking questions about the ‘why’ at the heart of the initiative," MOST CEO and founder Bruce Deel said. "Our goal as an organization is to raise awareness about the scourge of sex trafficking and make a meaningful difference in stopping it, and if that means upping the stakes and breaking another world record that seems impossible, that’s exactly what we’re going to do."

What you can do:

Admission to the game is free and the nonprofit encourages the public to come and cheer them on over the five-day attempt.

The group will livestream the game on WeAreMost.org.

The record they have to break is 120 hours, which was achieved in Buffalo, New York in 2021.