Utah Jazz sign JP Gibson, 5-year-old cancer patient, to 1-day deal

Utah Jazz sign 5-year-old cancer patient

The Utah Jazz announced Monday that the team had signed free-agent guard JP Gibson to a one-day contract. Per team policy, financial terms were not disclosed.

More from NBA

Gibson is a 5-year-old who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2012. He will be in uniform and will join the Jazz on the bench for Monday’s open scrimmage at Energy Solutions Arena.

He is scheduled to sign his contact with Jazz president Randy Rigby later Monday evening in the Jazz interview room and will be joined by his parents, Josh and Megan, and his 2-year-old sister, Elsie.

The family is from Layton, Utah.

"“JP loves most sports, but basketball is definitely his favorite,” Megan Gibson said. “When he was just over a year old, he would sit with my husband, Josh, watching games. He started insisting on shooting hoops for an hour each night before bedtime when he was just 15 months old. He knows he has to be 6 before he can play Junior Jazz, and he reminds us all the time that he can’t wait until he’s 6.”"

The signing and the visit by the Gibson family is being hosted by the Jazz and the “Anything Can Be” project, part of Millie’s Princess Foundation, which provides financial support to families affected by childhood cancer.

With so much negative publicity surrounding sports and athletes, these are the type of stories that remind us that at the end of the day, sports is an entertainment vehicle, a diversion for many of us from the drudgery of our everyday lives.

So kudos for the Jazz to providing a young kid battling something truly catastrophic with something he will never forget—and a chance for one night to just be a kid living out one whale of a dream.

Utah Jazz sign 5-year-old cancer patient

More from FanSided