Rookie forward Eric Paschall has had some momentous moments in his first NBA season, including a 34-point, 13-rebound night for his first career double-double on his 23 birthday, but none may have been as meaningful as what came after Monday night’s game against the Utah Jazz.
This had nothing to do with game stats or a victory celebration, but rather a culmination of years of hard work between two long-time friends: after the final buzzer, Paschall met Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell to swap jerseys.
This is a friendship that started in a church league in Harlem, which led to carpools to the same AAU games, which then became a pact between the two according to Paschall: “We're going to prove everybody wrong. Just because you guys are from [Westchester] doesn't mean we're not good basketball players.”
They reached their shared life’s dream of playing on an NBA court together Monday night.
“Some things can’t be described,” tweeted Mitchell. “Can’t even count how many people doubted us and didn’t think we could be here but here we are!”
Paschall reiterated the sentiment by tweeting: “We really came from the 914 where no one thought we would make it to the league. Now we both in the NBA! God is good! Love you bro!”
And if the shared moment was not enough to demonstrate their bond, you can see it by how they signed their tweets as Paschall and Mitchell both ended with the same line: “my brother for life.”