A British personal trainer has become an internet sensation after he was filmed bamboozling one of America’s top-flight basketball players in a one-on-one contest.

Stuart Tanner, 28, an amateur basketball enthusiast who gave up on a professional playing career five years ago, challenged Devin Harris, of the New Jersey Nets, when the American sports star was in London last week.

Harris, who was in the capital for a match against Miami Heat at the O2 Arena on Sunday, was taking part in a coaching session at a basketball court in Stockwell, South London, when he agreed to Mr Tanner’s challenge for a game of one-on-one.

The video, which has now been viewed more than three million times, shows Mr Tanner successfully defending Harris’s attempt to score and then taking possession. He tricks the professional and is able to run around and take a long shot that falls perfectly through the hoop without touching it.

The American was determined not to be beaten by Mr Tanner again but was outwitted by an even more impressive dribble. Mr Tanner, a basketball coach studying to be a personal trainer, bounces the ball through Harris’s legs and scores from close range.

As Mr Tanner races off in celebration, a bemused Harris accepts defeat gracefully. “Man, did you see how fast he was?” he says to the cameraman, Mr Tanner’s brother Greg. “He tricked me. He hustled me on my own court. He might be able to get an NBA contract. We might need to sign him up tonight.”

Harris later told the Newark, New Jersey-based Star-Ledger newspaper: “So he hit the first shot, and I was like, ‘OK, he has a little talent.’ Then he just whipped out the other thing – I was kind of confused at that point with all these dribbling moves, and before I knew it, he threw it through my legs and laid it up. At that point it was time to go.”

The video has become a hit on YouTube and is the talk of American sports enthusiasts. Within hours of being posted on the internet, the two-minute video clip had been watched by millions, with viewers wondering who the “random guy” with a “funny accent” was. One viewer wrote: “I think Devin Harris took it real well but he’s probably still in shock that he got crossed like that.” Another said: “That guy should hop across the Pond and play over here!”

Mr Tanner, from Thames Ditton, Surrey, gave up playing seriously five years ago after failing to qualify for the Milton Keynes Lions in the British Basketball League. He is also an ex-streetball player whose moves used to feature on streetball.co.uk, a basketball website.

Players from both the Nets and the Heat took part in the coaching clinic for young people last week.

Mr Tanner said that Harris probably underestimated him because of his casual clothes. “My brother asked him and Devin looked at me in my jeans and jumper and probably thought I was no threat at all,” he said. “He missed and I scored my first hoop, which made him suddenly show me some respect. He stepped up the second time and was defending properly but I managed to pull out a trick and bounce it through his legs and score again.

“It was a bit embarrassing for him as you shouldn’t ever really get beaten like that but he took it really well and was very nice about it. I don’t want to be a big head about this. I was excited and amazed when I saw that one hundred thousand people had watched the video.

“I haven’t played seriously for five years, I never made it as a professional and all of a sudden everyone is talking about me, which is amazing.”