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SALT LAKE CITY -- The Jazz season ended Wednesday night, a disappointing year for the team that didn't make the playoffs. But it was a great game for one young man from Green River who will never forget his special night.
Eighteen-year-old Conner Newland's favorite sport is basketball. He says it's in his blood. "I don't know, it's my life pretty much," he said.
So much so, the senior at Green River High School is the coach of the school's freshman team. Conner loves the lessons the game can teach. "Oh, I like how you play as a team; and if one person struggles, everyone struggles," he said.
Conner knows struggles more than most. Born on May 21, 1992, he progressed like most healthy boys -- until age 4.
"(We had) this cute little boy running around, and then they tell us that. It was horrible," said Valerie Newland, Connor's mother.
The Newlands were told Conner had Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a disease causing progressive muscle weakness, and there's no known cure. Conner was in a wheelchair by age 10.
"They always gave us that hope that there would be a cure," Valerie said. "But as time progressed, we just realized that it's gonna happen but probably not in our lifetime."
So, for the rest of his lifetime, Conner plans on sticking to what he knows and loves: coaching basketball.
"Maybe in the future I may try for the NBA, but for right now my plan is to coach in college," Conner said.
If his NBA coaching dream isn't realized, Conner gave Jazz head coach Ty Corbin a little pre-game advice Wednesday night. "Shut down Denver, ‘cause they'll come out hot," he said.
He also told one of Utah's big men to hit the boards. "I told Derek Favors to get eight rebounds tonight."
"Nothing deters him. He's not afraid of anything," Valerie said.
"I have a lot of tough trials, but they don't bother me none," Conner said. "I'm really positive. There are a lot of negative people in the world, and I don't want to be like that."
A positive attitude, despite the fact the life expectancy with Duchennes is from the patient's late teens to early 20s.
"It's starting to get a little tougher moving, around and I think that's the toughest part," Conner said.
But he won't be one to complain, especially on this night when Jazz Bear gave him a rare tour of the court; and Paul Milsap, Conner's favorite player, came out for a personal visit.
When it comes to life, maybe no one is tougher than Conner Newland. "I can't believe it. I'm the luckiest person in the world right now, I think," he said.
Conner will graduate from high school next month and plans to attend the College of Eastern Utah.
Email: kaiken@ksl.com
