March 7, 2014
Warriors Forward David Lee to Host Patient from St. Jude’s at Tonight’s Game as Part of the NBA’s Hoops for St. Jude Week
Lee and 12-Year-Old Bay Area Native Sydney Reunite Before Game Tonight Versus Atlanta Hawks
Hoops for St. Jude Week will Run from Friday, March 7 – Thursday, March 13 to Aid in the Fight Against Childhood Cancer
As part of the NBA’s Hoops for St. Jude Week, Golden State Warriors forward and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital ambassador David Lee will host a pre-game meet and greet with 12-year old cancer survivor Sydney at 4:30 p.m. today at Oracle Arena and host Sydney and her family for the Warriors game tonight against the Atlanta Hawks, the team announced today. A Bay Area native and Warriors fan, Sydney was diagnosed in 2007 with craniopharyngioma, a type of brain tumor, and received two months of radiation treatment at the age of five-years old. David and Sydney, who met for the first time and developed a lasting friendship during a visit to the Warriors Practice Facility in February 2011, will reunite in the Warriors Interview Room pregame to catch up, with Sydney and her family staying to watch the Warriors game as guests of David.
In 2011, Lee and 9-year-old Sydney met for the first time at the Warriors Practice Facility in downtown Oakland to receive a tour of the Warriors headquarters and spend time with David. Sydney and David were able to shoot around after a Warriors practice and talk about Sydney’s condition and the Warriors. After their first meeting, David made a surprise visit to Sydney’s school to visit her class and spend time together. To see photos of David and Sydney first meeting as part of Hoops For St. Jude’s Week, click here.
The NBA’s Hoops For St. Jude’s Week was launched with the goal to recruit fans to support St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital® and its mission of finding cures for childhood cancer and other deadly diseases and saving children through donations. Since becoming a national spokesperson for Hoops for St. Jude’s Week in 2011, Lee has donated $25,000 each year to support the life-saving work of St. Jude, where no child is denied treatment because of a family’s inability to pay. In February 2013, Lee visited the St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital® in Memphis and left so inspired by the work of the hospital that he doubled his annual $25,000 donation to $50,000.
For more information about the program and to view new video clips of the Hoops ambassadors with St. Jude patients, visit hoopsforstjude.org.