Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry’s best assist in Dallas Monday night won’t show up on the stat sheet.
An hour before tipoff against the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center, the two-time MVP was spotted embracing and consoling a 9-year-old boy who had lost his father in a car crash a few days earlier.
The child, Brayden Harris, is the nephew of Mavericks guard Devin Harris, whose brother died when his car broke down and was then rear-ended on a Dallas Expressway early Thursday morning. The younger Harris could be seen crying in the touching exchange during pregame warmups, which was captured on video by a fan.
“It’s obviously sometimes hard to find the right words to say in that situation because it’s such a tough blow to the family,” Curry later told reporters of their conversation, according to the Dallas News.
“And at that age, I can’t imagine what he’s going through but best thing I can say is to lean on his family to give him that strength to get through tough times.”
Curry, who learned of the tragedy from his brother, Harris’ Mavericks teammate Seth Curry, added that, "Nobody can tell (Brayden) how to feel.
“He has to allow himself to get through it the best he can, with his family at his side, to lean on them for strength and support and love. Hopefully they'll be there for him."
His uncle, a former NBA All-Star in his own right, was there for his grieving nephew, sitting out the game to be by the boy’s side, SB Nation reported.
“The family is taking it pretty hard, as you would expect them to,” the elder Harris said in the Mavs locker room. “Probably the toughest thing I’ve had to deal with, dealing with myself trying to explain it to his kids, my kids.”