The funny thing is, Fleming probably doesn’t know either.

Fleming, a former West Rowan star, is on the road playing basketball — and getting paid for it, which is something he always dreamed about.

But this isn’t the NBA. Far from it, actually.

This is the Harlem Rockets, a team based in Springfield, Mo. — a team that gives Fleming the chance to do the macarena, hold babies and, oh yeah, play a little basketball.

It’s the poor man’s version of the Harlem Globetrotters.

But it is fun. It is not stressful. It pays well. And it is basketball.

“It was hard adjusting after playing competitively,” Fleming said recently after the Rockets had entertained about 1,000 fans at Catawba College. They had actually outdrawn the Catawba men, who had played just before them.

But there’s nothing strange about that, according to Fleming, the team’s No. 1 ballhandler. The Rockets have packed high school gyms all over New England and are now on their southern tour.

Just for the record, Fleming had 27 assists that night at Catawba, held two babies, sighed countless autographs and danced — boy did he dance.

“I’m not really known for my dancing,” he said sheepishly. “Some of my friends were probably wondering what I was doing out here.

“But I just consider myself an entertainer and a basketball player all rolled into one.”

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When Fleming finished his college career at Western Carolina two years ago, he wanted to continue playing the game he loved. But at 6-0, and coming from such a small college, the NBA wasn’t beating down his door, despite 463 career assists (6 per game his senior season) and an 11-point average. He once scored 30 in a game against Davidson. He had 1,357 career points.

He also had come within inches of being a national celebrity. As a sophomore Western made it to the NCAATournament and his last-second shot barely missed that could have upset Purdue in Albuquerque.

“People still remind me of that,” he said.

Fleming went to Sacramento, Calif. and began playing, hoping to get a tryout. He eventually did, with the Connecticut Pride, but was cut.

So, he went back to Asheville where he worked at a sporting goods store and played a lot of pickup games. One night, a man who had ties to the Rockets saw him play, put him in contact with the team and he put on the uniform.

And put on a show.

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Fleming is not The Show. That title belongs to Rainbow Muntaqim, a 44-year old with amazing skills as a player and a comedian. He wears a wireless mike and does all the Globetrotter tricks we’ve come to know and love.

“He’s just hilarious,” says Fleming. “He’s always joking. It’s hard to realize when he’s serious sometimes.”

Rainbow was the one who tried to make Fleming understand what this life was all about. It’s a van ride here, a van ride there. It’s sleep a little and then go to a school and talk drug prevention. And then you hit the court and perform.

“Iremember my very first night on the team,” Fleming said. “We were in Pennsylvania in a very small town but it was a packed house.

“I was like, ‘What have I gotten myself into?’”

Fleming realizes now the answer to that question. It has given him a stage to perform his dazzling, ballhandling magic and the 23-year old has gradually turned into a crowd favorite.

“Joel has become a very entertaining player in a very short time,” said Rockets president George Mitchell.

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There is no written contract for Fleming, which he says is the best thing about this job.

“If you’ve got a commitment, you don’t have to stay,” he said.

That commitment may be with the USBL, which has contacted Fleming about another pro tryout. So the dream is still alive.

And if Fleming does make a USBLteam, he’ll do the same thing he did in high school and college: perform to the best of his ability.

Let’s just hope that they don’t play the macarena. Fleming may not be able to control himself.

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