The Utah Jazz may not have many highlights this season, but they had one Monday night.
The team signed five-year-old cancer patient JP Gibson to a one-day contract for the team’s scrimmage at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake. He was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2012.
It was mid-way through the third quarter when the crowd started to cheer. If you wanted to know why, you looked down. Rocking his full uniform and wristband, JP trotted on the court like he’d done it 100 times before.
Here’s the play-by-play in the moments before his emphatic slam. “He goes by Exum, Gobert is there, he slides by Gobert, he rises to the rim and hammers! JP Gibson with a two hand flush.”
The announcers weren’t the only ones excited, JP’s grandmother, Sherri Gibson, shared her thoughts on Facebook.
Thank you JAZZ for making my Grandson JPs dream come true! Each one of you showed him that being a member of the JAZZ is more then playing for a Great team…you took him under your wing and made him feel right at home on the court… that is something we will always be Thankful for.
Before the game JP and his family were treated to a press conference for the contract signing.
“JP loves most sports, but basketball is definitely his favorite,” said his mother Megan Gibson. “When he was just over a year old, he would sit with my husband Josh watching games. He started insisting on shooting hoops for an hour each night before bedtime when he was just 15 months old. He knows he has to be six before he can play Junior Jazz, and he reminds us all the time that he can’t wait until he’s six.”
JP only played one possession of the game, but that was enough. It was a moment he’ll never forget.
Denver Nuggets rework contract extension with Kenneth Faried
After what was thought to be a done deal, the Denver Nuggets and Kenneth Faried have changed the terms of a contract that was agreed upon on Monday.
Faried’s new deal will reportedly net him upwards of $50-million over four years, that’s opposed to a five-year deal worth $60 million.
Denver Nuggets, Kenneth Faried have reworked extension agreement. Faried will sign a 4-year, $50 million deal, league sources tell Yahoo.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) October 7, 2014
From Wojnarowski’s article:
After a closer examination of collective bargaining agreement fine print with the NBA on Monday morning, the fact that five-year deals on rookie extensions are only allowable for maximum contracts ultimately moved the sides toward reconstructing the extension.
Nevertheless, the sides found common ground on a $12.5 million annual deal that keeps Faried out of the restricted free-agent market in July 2015 when the possibility of Faried signing a richer offer sheet could’ve been painful for Denver to match.
Kenneth Faried has earned this payday. He only averaged 13.7 points and 8.6 rebounds per game last year, but after the all-star break he scored 18.8 points and grabbed 10.1 rebounds per game.
He also made a name for himself at the FIBA World Cup this summer. Faried inserted himself into meaningful moments of the game by, well, being Faried. The man is a worker, and for that he’s getting paid.
The cancer kid’s contract sure is a better team deal than Gordon Hayward’s contract.