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Paul 'Tiny' Sturgess Kicks Off Globetrotter Week In NYC

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- "Globetrotter Week" soared to new heights in New York City on Monday.

Paul "Tiny" Sturgess, who is the world's tallest professional basketball player, helped tip off the week on the 86th floor observatory of the Empire State Building.

So how did he come up with the name "Tiny?"

"We had a little fun with it at the Globetrotters -- we have me at 7'8" and Jonte "Too Tall" Hall at 5'2'", who's the shortest Globetrotter ever so we kind of had a little fun with that and we mixed it up a little bit," Sturgess said.

The team will play six games at four arenas -- including Madison Square Garden, the IZOD Center, Prudential Center, and Nassau Coliseum -- from February 17-20.

Herbert "Flight Time" Lang joined Sturgess and said the team will donate money from ticket sales to charities they work with.

"We do charities, we go to schools and we go to hospitals on smile patrol.  We like to be able to go a little bit above and beyond what normal organizations do because I think that's something that's kept the Globetrotters arond for 86 years," Lang said.

Sturgess, who was born and raised in England, is the tallest Globetrotter in team history.

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