To this day, his mother still views basketball as a saving grace. “When he was first diagnosed, we didn’t know what was going to take his mind off of it,” Sandra said. “So, I see basketball probably a little different than other mothers.” “It saved my son, literally, from a life of insecurity and pain and that kind of suffering that I see. The fact that he’s become such a figure, an image, and a mentor for other kids with alopecia — and he’s been able to do that through basketball.”