Washington Wizards point guard John Wall was visibly emotional during a post-game interview after defeating the Boston Celtics in double-overtime, but it wasn’t about the game.
Earlier that day, Wall’s young friend Miyah Telemaque-Nelson had died of Burkitt’s Lymphoma at age 6. They met in March when he helped her achieve her dream of meeting Nicki Minaj. After that, they stayed in touch, FaceTiming as recently as two weeks before she died.
Before Monday’s game, the Wizards held a moment of silence in Miyah’s honor, and Wall wrote her name on his shoes.
During the interview, Wall dedicated the Wizards-Celtics game to Miyah and said he planned to give his jersey and shorts to her family. It didn’t take long for him to become overwhelmed with emotions.
After the game, he posted a dedication to Miyah on social media. She had clearly made an enormous impact on his life.
If you were blessed to meet and get to know Miyah you know how special of a little gir… http://t.co/FjGYmt9oZR pic.twitter.com/twA7IjMI4k
— John Wall (@JohnWall) December 9, 2014
H/T SB Nation | Screengrab via Keith Allison/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)