Braxton Warren loves NBA basketball, but it isn’t particularly easy to attend games when you’re a 14-year-old boy living in a small town in Alabama. Consequently, Braxton had caught his NBA hoops action on TV while harboring dreams of eventually seeing his favorite team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, in person.
That dream became a Christmas gift he will never forget.
If anyone deserved the opportunity to lose himself in a game for a couple of hours, it was Braxton. Last year, doctors diagnosed his mother, Susie, with a rare form of cancer. Every few weeks, the single mom leaves her home in Carbon Hill, Ala., for treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
The challenges facing Susie and her son eventually reached a Thunder Season Ticket Member, Oklahoma County District Judge Vicki Robertson. The jurist joined forces with a family friend of Braxton’s last December to make sure the boy had an especially memorable Christmas.
“My son had been down in the dumps, and they were trying to do something special for him,” Susie said.
“They flew him out to Oklahoma over the Christmas holiday. When he got there, he was treated like a VIP. He was ecstatic.”
On Friday, Dec. 18, Braxton was in the Ford Center to see his beloved Thunder face -- and beat -- the Detroit Pistons. He sat courtside, visited with Rumble and was able to snag an autograph from Jeff Green.
Braxton described it as the best night of his life.
“That was the first NBA game I’ve ever seen in person,” he said. “It was awesome.”
Thunder fans can check out the online, interactive community that is THUNDERALLY.Phil Bacharach is the Director of Corporate Communications for the Thunder. He is looking for die-hard Thunder fans throughout the world. If you or somebody you know bleeds Thunder blue, contact Phil by clicking here