Charlie Brown Jr. was walking through the lobby of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on Dec. 21 when he saw his friend Zylan Cheatham looking joyous.
Brown could tell just by looking at him that he had good news to share.
Earlier that day, Cheatham had found out that the Miami Heat wanted to sign him to a 10-day contract. He started screaming, jumping and running around his hotel room, where he had been staying to compete in a showcase of the best teams in the NBA’s developmental league, the G League. Cheatham canceled plans to go home to Phoenix for Christmas, and when he called his mother to tell her, she jumped around, too.