The 2007 playoffs already have been better than advertised on the court. On Wednesday night, they got even better because of Derek Fisher.
You remember Fisher, the glue that held the Shaq-and-Kobe Lakers together during their championship run. Now he plays for the Utah Jazz, up 2-0 against the Warriors in a series that went from merely interesting to downright inspiring with what Fisher did in Game 2 under the most difficult of circumstances.
Fisher’s absence from the Jazz had been unexplained publicly until Wednesday, when it was revealed that he was in New York dealing with a family emergency. Jazz coach Jerry Sloan left a spot on the active roster open for Fisher in case he could make it to Salt Lake City in time to suit up for Game 2, and he did.
Fisher arrived at the arena during the third quarter, put on his uniform and walked right into the game. He helped send it to overtime by hounding Baron Davis into a missed three-pointer, then helped seal the victory with a three-pointer of his own. It was Jazz 127, Warriors 117, but the Fisher family won by a landslide.
After the game, Fisher revealed that his 10-month-old daughter, Tatum, had undergone successful surgery that morning in New York to remove a rare tumor between her eye and her brain. The condition, known as retinoblastoma, claims the lives of 87 percent of the children stricken with it worldwide. (Henry Abbott of Truehoop links to the Retinoblastoma International web site from his blog.)
Here is what a teary-eyed Fisher told TNT sideline reporter Pam Oliver moments after the game:
It was very, very serious. My daughter’s life was in jeopardy. She has a form of eye cancer called retinoblastoma. And the only reason I’m saying this now is because there are kids out there that are suffering from this disease, and people can’t really identify it. It’s a very rare disease. And I want people out there to take their kids to the ophthalmologist, make sure they get their eyes checked and make sure everything’s OK, because we could have lost my little girl had we waited any longer.
Fisher is one of the good guys in the NBA and has been a humble, steadying force in every locker room he’s inhabited. If you are looking for someone to root for as the playoffs unfold, Fisher is reason enough to root for Utah, which is starting to look capable of giving either the Spurs or Suns everything they can handle in the Western Conference Finals once they dispatch with the Warriors.
Sometimes, sports gives us stories like Michael Vick’s alleged involvement in a dog-fighting ring or Stephen Jackson’s court date being postponed so he can hit a few more three-pointers.
And sometimes, we get Derek Fisher and a reason to hug our kids a little harder.
Comments (1)
Nice story, Berger.