His name is Lee Edins. He’s a 12-year-old hoops fan. Lee lives in Sacramento, Cal, and happens to be a huge basketball fan. The young man “likes players from all over the NBA…”, according Victor Baker, Lee’s legal guardian. Currently under hospice care, Lee Edins has been diagnosed with stage four leukemia. He was reportedly given only weeks to live. At 12 years old, ailing from a horrible disease and an incurable one at that, Lee Edins only has one wish: to meet his favorite player, Roy Hibbert of the Indiana Pacers.
“Lee’s followed Roy since he was back at Georgetown..I didn’t even know he had heard of Roy Hibbert before.”, remarked Baker. Hibbert has planned a surprise visit to Lee’s home in Sacramento. The NBA has seen many of its players go out and commit to similar acts of kindness. Such gripping stories about fans in unfortunate situations very seldom go unheard in the NBA community. Stars such as Hibbert serve as idols and role models for many of basketball’s young fan-base.
Lee’s story was particularly gripping for the Pacers’ center. “I’m usually uncomfortable going to hospitals when the Pacers do events..”, said Hibbert. “because it’s pretty tough to see kids in that situation. Once I heard about Lee, I realized I had to get over it and do it for him.”
Lee’s initial diagnosis of monosomy 7 acute myeloid leukemia required a bone marrow transplant in order to have a chance to live. With the odds against him, Lee found a match. Unfortunately, the transplant didn’t take, eventually leading to stage four Leukemia.
