Last year, during a basketball tournament in Kansas, a 13-year-old collapsed and suffered a brain bleed. Shama’ar Jefferson’s parents even started a GoFundMe campaign and started receiving financial support. But their son never woke up after the first surgery and, unfortunately, passed away 44 days later. While the pain can never be replaced, the Golden State Warriors reached out to the family and even fulfilled a promise on Friday night.
Reporter for NBC Sports Bay Area, Dalton Johnson, even appreciated the gesture and tweeted, “The Warriors are beyond amazing at gestures like this”. His tweet consisted of a video from the NBA on Prime broadcast, where veteran broadcaster Allie Clifton narrated the story of the Jefferson family’s loss and how the Warriors played a small role as the family is still grieving.
The Warriors are beyond amazing at gestures like this https://t.co/2vcOMjpbVm
— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) April 10, 2026
“It’s tonight an opportunity to remind ourselves that some things are just bigger than basketball,” Clifton began. “Meet the Jefferson family, parents of 13-year-old Shama’ar Jefferson, who back on March 30, 2025, suffered a traumatic brain injury while playing basketball, the game his mother said he loved. He was determined to be a brain bleed as Shama’ar passed away just 44 days later on May 13th. The news came across to some within the Warriors organization, to which a call was made to the family to offer some moral support, including Coach Kerr, who invited Shama’ar’s mom and family out for a game this season.”
And the family decided to attend the game featuring the Warriors and the Lakers, as it was the final game at the Chase Center. It was an all-expenses-paid trip which included everything from flights to hotels for the family of five. What made this even sweeter was that the family never traveled to California, and it was the first time that the children had ever been on a flight.
The head coach of the Warriors, Steve Kerr, met with the family before the tip-off, and the players met them post-game. Nobody forced the Golden State franchise to do this. But they did, and it’s one of the many initiatives that the team takes proactively. The Warriors Community Foundation, since 2012, has distributed over $50–52 million to Bay Area nonprofits. In fact, recently, they provided $4 million in grants to 62 organizations. For them, it’s a way to connect and help the family, a person who is in need. Similarly, the gesture for Jefferson’s was much needed after the traumatic time they endured last year.
The Warriors came in clutch for the Shama’ar Jefferson family
It was Just A Kid From Wichita, a grassroots athletic program in Wichita, which detailed the situation of Shama’ar Jefferson. After playing the first half of the game, the 13-year-old complained about having blurry vision and his head hurting. There was a quick concussion test done, which the young hooper passed, but he later collapsed.
He was taken to Wesley Children’s Hospital and went into surgery after doctors found a brain bleed. “We found that he had a brain bleed, needing brain surgery and intensive care,” his parents shared through a GoFundMe. Despite the surgery, he never woke up as Shama’ar’s mother, Shaquela Cornwell revealed on April 20. They had raised more than $15,000 to help with Shama’ar’s medical expenses. But on May 13th, they received the unfortunate news of his passing.
The entire basketball community mourned the loss of the young hooper. Rockets star Tari Eason’s mother tweeted and offered to help the family. Similarly, the Golden State Warriors reached out but in private. And tonight fulfilled their promise and helped create some new memories for the Jefferson family.
