Players chip in to save coach's life after Clippers decline medical coverage
Seven years ago, former
Los Angeles Clippers head coach
Kim Hughes was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and the ensuing aftermath will change the way you feel about several NBA types significantly.
NBA players
Corey Maggette(notes),
Marko Jaric(notes),
Chris Kaman(notes) and
Elton Brand(notes) all chipped in to pay for expensive life-saving surgery for Hughes, after the Clippers organization declined to cover the costs.
Declined to cover the cost of a surgery that would save their employee's life. While playing rent-free in an often sold-out arena in America's second-biggest television market. Unyieldingly evil.
"Those guys saved my life," Hughes said. "They paid the whole medical bill. It was like $70,000 or more. It wasn't cheap.
"It showed you what classy people they are. They didn't want me talking about it; they didn't want the recognition because they simply felt it was the right thing to do." Hughes said he will be forever grateful to Brand, Jaric, Kaman and Maggette. In fact, Hughes said every time he runs into any of them, he thanks them from the bottom of his heart.