Chicago's violent crime numbers have dipped in the past 5 years.

But there's still a lot of work to do when it comes to gun-related incidents.

Last month, police officers recovered 835 firearms and since the beginning of this year, more than 11,700 firearms to help combat this issue.

A team of violence Interrupters.

Are you a fight unifying young people through their love of basketball.

Joining us now are the co-founders of the one city Basketball league.

Kobe Williams, National Violence, Interrupter and author of the book Interrupting Violence.

One Man's Journey to Heal the Street and redeem himself and on zoom.

We have former Chicago Bulls star and co-founder of the Noah's Ark Foundation Joakim.

Noah, thanks to you both for joining us.

Good to see you.

So questions question for the both of you.

Kind of you've been working together for over a decade.

This is a relationship that started on Twitter.

Kobe, tell me how your partnership again.

>> I mean, I met Joe Keene, like you with decade ago on Twitter, he saw documentary I was free to call the interrupt those.

He sent a tweet.

This is a must-see documentary and I tweeted back same and thank you for watching a movie and we built from right you know, he say Kobe, if anything, I could do to help you let me know.

So later we could lay to apf change we just thought Brian Storm and how he can get involved and different things like that.

Then what we saw brainstorming sale right?

Come out to the community.

Want to meet some of the guys and women in the community.

Stockham bringing them out to the community.

Sometimes out their best self.

Then we started taking the use of total center where Michael Jordan play that, you know, would that the Bulls sent up 70 and we start going out there bringing kids desk in a normal and just been building them.

This is best is history.

I know to come.

Obviously he wrote the foreword to your book Joakim Noah, what was it about?

Obviously the movie and then?

>> You know, the work that Kobe Williams and you know, his team members do that made you want to get involved.

>> You know, first of all, thanks for having me very excited about our one city finals that are starting on Saturday.

But Kobe's just a very special guy.

Somebody that I met over a decade ago and just his work is so real and somebody that I just started working with very organically.

And now we have our basketball early on the South side, Chicago working with 28 violence prevention groups.

We have some groups on the West side as well.

So we have our finals coming up this weekend and we're just really excited.

>> Kobe, you work as a violence interrupter.

And of course, you have a personal connection to this work.

Tell us about that.

>> I mean, you start off doing a violence interrupter.

My job was every day to mediate conflicts.

Ted lead to violence to stop the shooting and killing him.

Focus on changing mindsets and behavior.

It really just mean the you bet a self part of the part of the problem, part of the solution.

So I just want to give back because I know, you know, I want the youth to know they not alone on the I feel them.

You know, I mean, you know that I talk about I'll talk about a lot about my book interrupting violence.

I just want everybody to know, you like I how you start, it's how you finish.

And this steel light the and ICE testing point for people to know cause people be so quick to judge each other and just people and look down on them.

And thing I want to say about Joe Cain or when I first met him from the beginning, he told me is saying this when basketball is over with, I'm going to be working with be doing this type of work so I want to thank that brought keeping the square.

And of course he So as we mentioned this week, struggle Police Department, they share to monthly crime stats for November, showing a continued decline.

>> In shootings, murders several other crimes.

But when you look at numbers like that from the CPD, what do you think when you tribute went off of a man is great.

Any time you shootings and killings go down in the city's definitely in Chicago.

So it's it's a plus, you know, to Biden's go now.

>> And that's contribute to what everybody's doing to stop this net.

One organization, one person, nobody King stop all this is the shooting.

So, you know, we got to continue to do our part everybody else got to do.

They part.

But when you know, when everybody doing something, you see numbers going out like It contributes a lot of violence.

Prevention groups.

It will want city because we keeping these guys.

Off the street sometimes and they coming out playing best while they build relationships with each other in different things like that.

Joe, come through that one city basketball league.

You use basketball as a means, of course, to help guide young to learn lifelong skills.

>> How can you know sports be a unifier?

How one of the life lessons they can get from sports?

>> No sports as the ultimate unifier and were able to hook the kids in through the basketball.

But obviously this league is about much more than than playing basketball.

This is about uniting the kids, bringing together, being able to speak to them the right way and just have a moment where we can enjoy the competition of basketball, unifying the city, all the different violence prevention groups that are playing in our league.

But just like I said, this is so much, bigger than just winning and losing a game.

This is about bringing people together.

>> And of course, you also, you know, you're giving young black men and boys the opportunity to have, you know, difficult conversations about their lives and their future.

How do you, you know, how do you sort of get to these young men?

How do you get to these who, you know, historically they have it may be felt empowered to open up and share their stories and talk about their feelings.

Do come to you first on that one.

>> I think this is about youth empowerment.

You know it when you're able to bring all the people together, have real conversations, organic conversations.

I think we've been doing this for for a while now.

So I think that people understand that this is a this program is is is necessary.

And I think it says it's a little bit different.

But one way when you're able to walk into the gym and have those moments and be able to have those conversations with the guys.

I think it's a it's something that I'm very proud of.

And just like Kobe said, I knew that when I was done playing basketball, I would have an opportunity to get into this field with my brother, Kobe, that I really respect and I'm really proud of just the consistency and the time and effort that goes into this problem that we have in Chicago.

>> Kobe, there's a lot of misconceptions about, you know, how and why of violence persists in a city like Chicago.

What falsehood Steve, want to dispel a me.

I mean violence.

I mean, growing up, you see violence every day.

You know, sometimes you see how so you said in the community and all so it's been polls to Vine is as kids.

So once we've been this post what we thought, the only way you should have the responsibilities will not see your responsibility.

I mean, that is somebody do some to you.

Your parents always taught you to hit them back.

Don't let nobody do ABC and D to you.

So we thinking that's embedded in those don't react a certain type away.

But now what we do in this, helping them change mask they think in showing them just because you