LeBron James gave one Boston Celtics fan the memory of a lifetime on Tuesday.
Aaron Miller, a 16-year-old boy who attends Newton North High School in Mass., was honored at the Celtics-Cavaliers game as the “Hero Among Us.” Miller overcame several thousand hours of surgery and physical therapy in order to be able to walk after doctors thought he would not be able to due to brain damage. Despite that, Miller competes on his school’s golf and basketball teams — and he’s no joke as an athlete; a Boston Herald feature on him says he can drive a golf ball 200 yards despite only using his left arm.
When Miller was honored during the game, James happened to see part of it and was moved. He ended up going over to give the fan a brief greeting that left Miller dumbfounded.
“I wasn’t able to hear the whole story because I was in the game and Coach was drawing up the play,” James said after the game. “But I looked up by the JumboTron and I saw what [Miller had] been through and where he is now. I think the doctor said he would never walk again or talk again. … I looked up there and right from there, it became so much more than basketball.”
James also noted that Miller was wearing his specially designed shoes.
“He also had my shoes on,” James said. “I designed those shoes for kids with conditions where they can’t tie their own shoestrings, and he had a pair on. Those shoes that he had on are made for kids that can’t tie their own shoes, and it’s just one strap. When I saw his story, it was just like, I don’t know, I felt like I was a part of him. Just showing my respect, gave him my shoes. It was well received by him. It was not for you guys or the fans. It was for him.”
After the game, James gave Miller his shoes.
Class move @KingJames #GoodOnYou #Celtics pic.twitter.com/dnc5kgzN2H
— Brian Andrews (@bandrewsecho) December 16, 2015
