Internet sensation Julian Newman dribbles his way to #3x3WT San Juan

By looking at the number of views of his main mixtape on YouTube, you might argue 11 year-old dribbling wizard Julian Newman is already more famous than Paul Newman.

So how do you get to be seen 3,5 million times? It starts with hard work:

"I started playing basketball when I was 3 years-old", the 1,45m guard said.

"I practice anywhere from 7 to 10 hours a day. My work-out routine consists of 500 made shots and 2 hours of straight ball-handling. My dad puts me through a lot of ball-handling drills then we train to get faster and stronger. I have my regular team practices then of course pick-up games the rest of the time."

The hardest-working 11 year-old player in the game already got the recognition from a number of personalities, including the hardest-working 34 year-old player in the game, Kobe Bryant himself. Julian recalls:

"My best memory was going to LA for the Conan O’Brien show and Conan sent my family and I to the Lakers game. We sat court side and after the game we went to the locker-room and spent about 15 minutes with Kobe. He said he had been watching me and that I was a bull on the court and to keep it up and I’ll be where he is at one day. He also said I'm a role model for his kids."

So Kobe scored 81 points in an NBA game? The kid from Orlando scored 91.

"It is the highlight of my young career: scoring 91 points in 3 quarters in a middle school game and I'm only in elementary school actually."

It is not rare the Downey Christian School varsity basketball young star has to compete against players almost twice his age (and height) but that serves as an extra motivation to shine.

"I love it because at first they think I'm a joke then when I start scoring and going by them there are like ‘wow’."

"The tallest player I played against was 7 feet and he was 19. It felt good scoring on him.", he added.

He has been on countless TV shows and NBA games and now he is bringing his game and mad handles to the FIBA 3x3 World Tour in San Juan, Puerto Rico, a special occasion for the Chris Paul fan because his mother is Puerto-Rican.

I'd like to thank my fellow Puerto-Ricans for the support and hope to meet all of my fans this weekend. I am looking forward to seeing people from all over the world, playing ball and having fun all week-end."

Julian Newman will showcase his dribbling skills and challenge the crowd to one-and-one games during entertainment breaks at the San Juan Masters on Saturday and Sunday, in Old San Juan by the Marina. The entrance is free and so is the livestream available here both days on 3x3worldtour.com.