Jewish Teen With Brain Cancer Is A Laker for a Day
Image by YouTube
The Los Angeles Lakers signed a Jewish teenager with brain cancer to a one-day contract.
Yitzi Teichman of Baltimore signed the one-day contract on Sunday for the team’s game against the Charlotte Hornets, the Los Angeles Times reported. He was given a jersey with the number 18, which in Hebrew is chai, or life, for the game.
Teichman, 18, is a native of Los Angeles and a lifelong Lakers fan. His opportunity to join the team was facilitated by the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
The teen, who had a brain tumor removed several months ago, was joined at the Staples Center arena by his parents and seven siblings.
Teichman told the newspaper that his first word was “Kobe,” referring to the team’s star player, Kobe Bryant. He said that when he was asked by the foundation what he wished for, “It was pretty easy; I want to be a Laker. I didn’t have much of a shot considering my height; so it was either I’ve got to be good at basketball or get cancer. So I went with the cancer route.”
Bryant sent a video of support to Teichman before his surgery, according to NBA.com.
He warmed up with the team but sat on the bench during the game, which the Lakers lost. He received a signed ball and the players’ game shoes as gifts.
The teen, who is undergoing treatment, has been accepted to the University of Maryland and Towson University for next year.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
