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With basketball career on pause, Drive point guard opens up cleaning business

To make ends meet during the pandemic, Craig Sword and his fiancé opened up their own company in their home state of Alabama.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — On the basketball court, Craig Sword isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty and apparently that’s the case off it as well.

"He just kept saying, 'This is it. I got the perfect idea,'" said his fiancé Calandra Gipson. "He never does that"

It came to the Drive point guard after practice right before the season was shutdown due to the pandemic.  

No basketball meant no money, so he told Calandra they would get some by starting their own cleaning company.

"I did my research on it and it turns out, it was a good idea," he said. 

It took some convincing to get Calandra on board but when she got there, she was all in. After plunking down $1,500 of their hard earned cash, Sword Xtreme Cleaning was born and suddenly grease and grime were on notice.

"I want to be the best at it," said Gipson.  "I don’t want to be an amateur."

Before long, they were off and running, although Sword’s cleaning skills weren’t exactly up to par.

"My fiancé, she’s pretty much the pro here," Sword said. "It took me time to get the hang of it and she got me right."

It’s been almost half a year since the pair went into business together down in their home state of Alabama. They have over 100 clients and estimate they’ve made almost as much money cleaning as they did when Sword was playing basketball.

"We are working on taking over Montgomery," Gipson states. "Our vision is to have Sword Xtreme Cleaning company's in every city that we visit."

It’s a lofty goal Sword admits. 

"I’m here for the challenge," Sword says proudly. 

It will be a life of dirt and dunks but as long as they keep rolling in the dough, there will be no complaints.

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