Playing basketball with his friends in the community was a huge part of life for Tameek Floyd growing up. He was born in Fort Greene, Brooklyn and raised by a single mother. Basketball taught him how to work collaboratively with others, the sport also taught him brotherhood and discipline. Discipline is what allowed him to excel in basketball. While in high school he was awarded All City and All States awards, and ultimately received a full ride scholarship to play basketball in college. His passion for basketball allowed him to reach beyond the basketball courts of Fort Greene.
During his junior year of college he faced adversity, struggling with how to balance the challenges at hand which eventually led him to poor decisions and later losing his athletic scholarship. Within the next year he had been incarcerated and spent the following decade in prison. He began to feel a lot of guilt and shame for letting down the people who supported him and were rooting for him. The weight of everyone who had believed in him was resting on his shoulders and he knew he needed to do something. Before returning to Fort Greene he had already decided on a mission to give back to his community, to the people who had helped him so much. He took the opportunity to right his wrongs by pouring into the next generation.
Floyd founded Three K3ys Inc. which is a sports and entertainment management company. He created a program called Shooting for Success, the name works to dissolve the negative connotation of ‘shooting’. In a place where shootings can mean grief and loss Floyd takes the word back and changes it to show ambition. They provide a mentorship program and are given inner city youth the opportunity to meet professional athletes and business personnel that can provide inspiration and sound full advice. The goal is to uplift the youth of Fort Greene and New York City.
“Three K3ys is not just a business, it’s redemption for me. I have an opportunity to give back to the game that has open doors for me and my friends. Through Three K3ys I organized the first ever full size basketball court in Times Square for the youth of NYC.”
As a child, spending time at The Boys and Girls Club was a safe haven for kids living in Fort Greene and Farragut housing projects. It was the place kids went to spend time between school and home. Tameek, and his best friend Taj Gibson partnered with Malik Brown to form GFB Development. Their first project is to redevelop the Boys and Girls club. All three of them grew up in those same halls. To come back and reshape the place that once shaped them was, as Floyd describes it, a full circle moment.
At his core, Tameek Floyd is all about his community, working his hardest to give back to Fort Greene children and provide them with everything that allowed him to be great and more. He wants every child in his community to have ample opportunity to aspire for great things and to know they have people that want them to succeed. He works every day to make his mother proud, and today he is proud of the man he has become. His message is simple, and it’s earned: be intentional with what you do.
