{"id":13515,"date":"2020-03-11T14:37:19","date_gmt":"2020-03-11T09:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/?p=13515"},"modified":"2020-03-11T14:37:19","modified_gmt":"2020-03-11T09:37:19","slug":"basketball-teen-star-diagnosed-with-brain-tumor-met-his-duke-university-hero-rj-barrett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/archives\/13515","title":{"rendered":"Basketball Teen Star Diagnosed with Brain Tumor, Met His Duke University Hero, RJ Barrett"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 16-year-old teen basketball player battling brain cancer was treated to a day of happiness when he visited the\u00a0New York Knicks\u00a0and met his hero, former college star, RJ Barrett.<\/span><\/p>\n

Antonio Sellers has always been a fan of Duke University and dreamed of playing basketball for the legendary school. And he seemed to be well on his way Sellers was an accomplished New Jersey basketball player who immediately made an impact for his high school team.<\/span><\/p>\n

But just days after the basketball season ended in March 2019, Antonio complained of a headache so severe that he was taken to a local emergency room.<\/span><\/p>\n

From there, he was transported to Saint Peter\u2019s University Hospital, where doctors found a golf ball-sized tumor growing in Antonio\u2019s brain. He would soon undergo emergency surgery to remove the cancerous mass, which would once again return in the weeks following his operation. The tumor would soon affect Antonio\u2019s abilities to talk and move.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAntonio had to spend over 100 consecutive days in the hospital, and [we] basically lived in the hospital for the duration of his stay,\u201d Felicia Sellers, Antonio\u2019s mother, tells media, adding that Antonio has lost his ability to walk.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since fifth grade, Antonio made it clear to his parents that he wanted to attend Duke and play for head coach Mike Krzyzewski.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was his dream and goal,\u201d Felicia, 39, says. \u201cHe watches Duke play every year and admires all the players.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

One of his favorite Duke players is 19-year-old Barrett, who is now in his rookie season with the New York Knicks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he was asked who he liked from the Knicks, the first name he mentioned was RJ Barrett,\u201d Felicia recalls. \u201cBecause he\u2019s from Duke and a part of the brotherhood Antonio always wanted to be a part of.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With his disease progressing, Make-A-Wish and\u00a0Garden of Dreams, a non-profit associated with the Madison Square Garden Company, teamed up to schedule a day for Antonio to hang with the team and meet Barrett in person.<\/span><\/p>\n

On March 1, Antonio attended a Knicks practice, where he gave Barrett a special bracelet with his name on it. He was then a guest at the team\u2019s victory against the Houston Rockets the very next day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRJ was so passionate about Antonio\u2019s story and showed so much love and support,\u201d Felicia says of the special day. \u201cHe inspired Antonio to continue to keep pushing and fighting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAntonio was so excited after the Knicks won and RJ was wearing his band,\u201d she added. \u201cIt meant a lot to know an NBA player supports your fight.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Doctors recently told the family there were no other options to stop the growth of Antonio\u2019s aggressive tumor, and they have chosen to end his chemotherapy treatment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Antonio\u2019s family is now focusing on other areas of his well-being, such as his diet and speech and occupational therapy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLife has changed dramatically for Antonio, but he continues to push himself daily,\u201d Felicia says. \u201cThese last couple of months his best months ever. He tells us daily basketball is his life, and he is fighting to get back on the court.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A 16-year-old teen basketball player battling brain cancer was treated to a day of happiness when he visited the\u00a0New York Knicks\u00a0and met his hero, former college star, RJ Barrett. Antonio Sellers has always been a fan of Duke University and dreamed of playing basketball for the legendary school. And he seemed to be well on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":13516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1469,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-york","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13515"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13517,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13515\/revisions\/13517"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}