The pop and echo of a dribble, the thump of a base drum -- they're simple, recognizable sounds that most people probably don't think much of.
But to four-year-old Jace Lee, they're magical.
"It was really cool seeing him realize what's happening," said Brenda Lee, Jace's mom.
By the time Jace turned three, he was completely deaf.
His mom admits it's been trying at times for both him and the family. But they all decided early on, they would run with it and adapt.
"We get a ton of people that say, 'oh I'm sorry, I'm sorry,'" said Lee. "We're like 'don't be sorry. He's just a kid. He's just a kid who can't hear. That's okay.'"
This past fall, she and her husband gave surgeons the green light to place cochlear implants in both of Jace's ears. The devices won't restore his hearing -- but can give him some sense of sound and help him better understand what people are saying to him.
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Lee says it's already been life-changing.
"He started telling us [via sign language] that he could hear certain things," said Lee. "He heard the baby sneeze. He heard a helicopter."
And thanks to the Harlem Globetrotters, he can add a basketball and drums to that list.
"It was a lot more than we could ever even imagine," said Lee.
She's still not entirely sure how, but the Globetrotters found out about Jace -- and heard that he liked watching basketball with his family.
So earlier in the week, Globetrotters star Handles Franklin rounded up the Dallas Mavericks Drumline -- and together, they surprised Jace and his family with a special performance just for him.
It's a sight -- and a sound -- that Jace won't soon forget.
"We're still so speechless," said Lee. "It was very kind of them and Jace had a blast."
The Globetrotters take over the American Airlines Center in Dallas Saturday night at 7:00. They'll do another show Sunday afternoon at 2:00 at the Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco.
