Emotional moment when Melo gives car – w/ Garden of Dreams Foundation-Kia + his foundation – 2 Jarell Lara, 17, who has rare form of cancer pic.twitter.com/Zr5zXkScmN
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) December 25, 2016
It really seems like people are out to get Carmelo Anthony this season. At the very least, certain people might be trying to get under his skin, perhaps to get him to end his worst habits or simply to get revenge, and throughout it all the Knicks star has stuck to the high road. And while people have been talking about those things that George Karl wrote about Anthony in his upcoming book, he focused on making someone else’s life a little better.
As you can see in the above video, Anthony was embraced by 17-year-old Jarell Lara and his family prior to the Knicks’ Christmas game, after he surprised them with a brand new Kia. The gift was the second that Anthony had given the Lara family, as he previously took them on a $2,000 Christmas shopping spree. Jarell is battling a rare form of cancer known as Langerhans cell histiocytosis, and his mother made huge sacrifices for him during his 18 months of chemotherapy. According to ESPN, Anthony was more than happy to do his part.
“I don’t think you can put that in words,” Anthony said. “That is a family that I have gotten a chance to know. My foundation donated a car to them, working with Kia [and the Garden of Dreams] … and just to see the expression on their faces, the son, one of the kids wanted to cry but held it in … that is what it is all about.”
“I thought someone was punking me,” Jarell told MSGNetworks.com of what he thought when Anthony told the family to come over to the loading dock ramp at the Garden where the car was parked. “It hasn’t sunk in. It’s a blessing from God. There are so many people [that] Carmelo Anthony can help, and he chose to help me. It’s the greatest Christmas you could ask for.”
“I’m a strong person,” Jarell added. “I never thought I wouldn’t make it. I had some tough days, but on those days, knowing Carmelo had my back helped me get through.” (Via ESPN)
The Knicks ended up losing their Christmas matchup with the Celtics, despite Anthony’s 29 points. It’s probably okay to let them off the hook for this one, though.