Some people will say it's just a Spalding basketball, but to Noel and Angelina Andreoni it is so much more than that. To the Andreoni's that basketball represents a dream and a passion that has driven the couple to all 50 states and to 28 countries worldwide spreading their love of the game and sharing their experiences everywhere they go.

"We’ve been around the world and what we do is we use our experiences with the basketball and we take those experiences into the classroom," said Noel. "We talk to middle school and high school students about pursuing their passions and their dreams. We also use the ball as a catalyst to discuss cultural diversity. I’ll mention where the ball has been to get the kids attention and then teach them about that country. "

The Andreoni's started the project over seven years ago, after realizing that they wanted to life a life full of travel, writing, photography and of course basketball. The self-supported project has picked up steam over the last couple of years and the Andreoni's were even invited by Spalding to attend the NBA All-Star Weekend last month where they had NBA Legends Rick Barry, Julius "Dr. J" Erving, Magic Johnson and even NBA Commissioner David Stern shoot the basketball.

While some of the best basketball players in NBA history have shot the basketball, it hardly compares to the Andreoni's most famous participant.

"We went to an elephant camp one day," said Angelina. "Elephant's are really brilliant animals, and one of them was really good with a soccer ball and we said if it is that good with a soccer ball it could definitely shoot a basketball. We came down the next day and we explained to the trainer what we wanted the elephant to do. The elephant took the ball, walked up to the hoop, and slam dunked it on the first try."

Shooting the ball on behalf of the Wizards today were Oleksiy Pecherov, Darius Songaila, Brendan Haywood, Dave Hopla, Mike O'Koren, Phil Hubbard, Wes Unseld Jr., Ed Tapscott, and Milt Newton. The group went a perfect 9 for 9 from the FT line.

For more information on the Andreoni's and where they might be going next visit their website shoottheball.net.