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SALT LAKE CITY — A basketball game was happening on one side of the room, a guitar was wailing on the other. With commotion happening around her, 3-year-old Vi Andreason found a nook with a toy kitchen and settled in.
That was her place.
As the other kids crowded around the Utah Jazz players — getting autographs, playing games, and interacting with some of their heroes — during the team’s annual visit to Primary Children’s Hospital on Tuesday, the energetic Vi was content to enjoy her space.
It just so happened, though, that her nook was the spot the Jazz had set up for the players to speak to the media. But all that meant was she got to meet some new friends.
“Oh, you want to join me for the media?” Royce O’Neale asked while smiling down at the young girl who had come up to him.
Not exactly. She just wanted to share her toys with the Jazz swingman. Vi held up a basket of toy fruit to O’Neale and asked which one he wanted. He leaned down, smiled and reached into the basket. Vi beamed.
“(It’s all about) the interactions, the kids' faces, seeing them happy,” O’Neale said.
It’s those moments that mean the world to onlooking parents and the kids — and they help put things in perspective for the Jazz players, too.
The Jazz may be on a three-game losing streak and are coming off a loss that their own coach called a “low-point” type of game, but that all seemed like a distant memory as they were surrounded by kids battling things many of the players could barely comprehend, let alone understand.
There are so many awesome moments during these visits. pic.twitter.com/tCHCPH77Q6
— Ryan Miller (@millerjryan) February 25, 2020
They saw this as a chance to make a kid's day. It just so happened to make theirs, too.
“It’s perfect timing,” Mike Conley said. “That’s how things work sometimes. Everything is going the wrong way and you get an opportunity like this and realize that we are all blessed to be amongst each other and spend time together and our families. And seeing all these families here today, and all the support they give, and how strong they are is admirable.”
Said Bojan Bogdanovic, who helped a couple of kids perfect their shots: “Theirs is a much more important fight than we are fighting on the court.”
Emmanual Mudiay cheered as a young child in a wheelchair made a basket. Jordan Clarkson pressed down on some guitar strings as a young girl strummed along. Rudy Gobert posed with kids as they showed off their wingspan. Conley got beat in UNO by a young girl — twice.
“She wouldn’t let me off the hook. She didn't take it easy at all,” Conley said.
Those are just a few of the memories that were created on Tuesday. It was an afternoon full of laughter — and those kids’ smiles will have a lasting impression on the players.
Jordan Clarkson rocking out with a young kid during the Jazz’s trip to Primary Children’s. pic.twitter.com/q5KMne6ShT
— Ryan Miller (@millerjryan) February 25, 2020
“You realize what we think is a bad day and the challenge is nothing compared to what these families go through and how strong they are and they still show up with a smile,” Conley said. “It truly is an honor to be around those types of people. It makes us thankful that we are able to be around them.”
As Vi’s father Austin looked on as his daughter — whose small energetic body showed the signs of multiple surgeries — played with O’Neale, Bogdanovic and several Jazz dancers (her little nook became a popular place, after all), he thought of what this moment might mean to her when she gets a little older.
“She hasn’t had this much energy in weeks,” Austin said. “She’ll be able to look back and think that this was pretty special.”
The players will be able to do the same thing.
"This has been something I’ll remember for a long time," Conley said.
