If Wheaties is the breakfast of champions, then Honey Nut Cheerios is the bedtime snack of the Harlem Globetrotters. Well, at least one. Anthony “Bucket” Blakes eats a bowl of the cereal before bed every night.

“It’s a comfort thing,” he said. “It helps me relax. Some people use aromatherapy candles, I like to eat cereal.”

Maybe the sharp-shooting guard ~ in his 13th season with the Globetrotters ~ is on to something. Dubbed “Buckets” because of his ability to “shoot a lot of buckets in a hurry,” he’s one of the most accurate shooters around and even owns a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.

“I’m excited that I’ll be in the book,” said Blakes, who recently broke the record for the most underhanded half-court shots in one minute ~ he made six, one more than the previous record. In 2011, he hit two, tying him with ex-NBA star Jason Kidd for the record.

When he isn’t schooling former NBA players, Blakes takes the time to school himself: In 2012, he earned his bachelor’s in psychology, making the Dean’s List three times. “It was one of the things I always promised I’d do,” he said. “I feel happy that I accomplished it.”

Though he’s got game now, Blakes wasn’t always considered the coolest kid on the court. “I used to get to school early to eat breakfast, and one day, I sat next to this bully,” he said. “He told me to move, but I didn’t, so he started making fun of me. Some of his jokes were pretty good, so I laughed along with them. He got upset because he couldn’t make me feel bad … I just walked away smiling.”

Blakes likes to tell this story to the kids he visits as part of the Globetrotters’ mentoring program, especially because this year’s campaign is about bullying. “We talk to the kids about the ABCs of bullying prevention,” he said, adding that it stands for Action, Bravery and Compassion.

Blakes said that whether or not he and his teammates realize it, kids look up to them off the court. “We’re role models for them,” he said. “I believe that if you have a platform to stand on, you should do something positive with it.

The Harlem Globetrotters also support the military by performing for the troops overseas. “It helps keep their minds off of stuff for a couple hours,” Blakes said. They also sponsor a Hometown Heroes initiative, in which the Globetrotters honor an active, wounded or retired member of the military at each game on the 2015 North American Tour.

Albeit long ~ 310-plus games in 249 cities in 49 states and nine Canadian provinces, plus another 150 games overseas ~ Blakes still enjoys his tours with the Globetrotters. “My favorite part, other than making people laugh and smile, is that no matter where we are in the world, we’re always the home team,” he said.

Blakes and the Globetrotters will be at the DCU Center on March 27. For tickets, visit harlemglobetrotters.com.

By Kimberly Dunbar