Thanks for sharing this with us...it's always sad to hear something like this, especially
when it's related to a player on your favorite team...
Here's the whole story incase anybody wants to read it...
UCLA's Ariza moves from tragedy to prospect
By Bob Velin, USA TODAY
Trevor Ariza will sit back Thursday with his mom, Lolita, and brother Kenny in their Los
Angeles home and watch the NBA draft. And the 18-year-old forward from UCLA will
wait for his name to be called.
Ariza wishes his little brother Tajh could be there to see it, because Tajh especially
loved to watch Trevor play basketball. But Tajh has been gone for more than eight
years.
On March 18, 1996, while Trevor and his mom were watching his stepfather play
basketball in Caracas, Venezuela, Tajh, 6, and Kenny, 9, were back at the hotel with
a babysitter. Tajh and Kenny were horsing around, and somehow Tajh fell out of the
window and plunged more than 30 floors to his death.
"It was real hard," Trevor says. "My little brother was my best friend. We
slept in the same bed together every night. We did everything together. For my mom
�" for anyone to lose a child �" it was very hard. And
Kenny actually saw him fall. He had nightmares for a long
time."
The trip home from Venezuela was especially tough, "knowing my little brother
was in a box on that plane," Trevor says.
Ariza turned to basketball to help with the grieving process and actually lived for a year
with John Fisher, who ran the Hoops Masters Camp in Los Angeles.
"For a young guy to be able to bounce back from something like that and pursue what he's
pursuing and to really work hard and be focused is a testament to his
character," says New Orleans Hornets All-Star guard Baron Davis, a friend
and mentor to Ariza.
Former NBA star and family friend Reggie Theus agrees.
"That tragedy has spurred him and really made him headstrong, and he's got something he
really wants to prove to himself," Theus says. "There was a period of
time when he could've gone either way. He could've gone on the dark side. But he's got
a very strong mom who's been there for him the whole time. They pulled each other
through."
After a stellar career at Westchester High, where Ariza led the team to two California
state titles and a No. 5 ranking in USA TODAY's Super 25, he signed on to play at UCLA,
where he was an all-Pacific-10 freshman but still harbored his dream of playing in
the NBA. So he entered the draft. And he's confident his name will be called after
working out for 15 teams.
"I think my workouts have been good enough that I'll be drafted," Ariza says.
"Where, I don't know. But I'm excited to see what happens.
"Every team I worked out for was surprised."
Davis thinks a lot of NBA teams that pass on Ariza will be surprised. "In the next
three to four years, a lot of teams will know they made a mistake by not taking him
higher," Davis says.
Would he like to see the Hornets take Ariza?
"I'd love to see the Hornets get him," Davis says. "I think that would be one of
the surprise moves of the draft. Three years from now they'd be very
happy."
Ariza's favorite NBA player is Tracy McGrady, but he patterns his game after several
players.
" I like to pass like Jason Kidd," he says. "I like to shoot like Reggie
Miller, I like to play hard like KG (Kevin Garnett), and I like to focus like Kobe
Bryant."
Theus says it's difficult to find players Ariza's size (6-8) that are called skill
players. "It's a diminishing entity in the NBA these days, but he's one of
them," Theus says. "When he perfects his jump shot, he will be a great
talent in the NBA."
And Trevor knows that Tajh will be right there with him for the whole
journey.
Glad Ariza is still here and improving. He'll make his lil' bro
proud..
