JT’s Blog: Haiti Earthquake Hits Close to Home

It feels good to be back in Sacramento after a long road trip.

Before the team left for our game against the Sixers on Friday, Jan. 15, I took a red-eye flight to Philly early Thursday morning, so I could see my family for an extra day. After getting off the plane I took a little rest and then met my grandparents for lunch. Afterward I went and surprised my mother at work, which was great, and I had a chance to meet all of her coworkers. Then, I had a chance to hang out with my dad and friends. I always ask people what’s going on back home and they always say nothing, but when I’m home it seems like there’s always a lot going on for some odd reason! It was good being home even though I didn’t get to see everyone I wanted.

Three out of the six cities – Philly, D.C. and Atlanta — we went to on our trip I had family in, so it was great getting to eat so much home cooking. My mom made two of my favorite meals — chili and grilled pepper chicken with chicken gravy and rice. My grandma also made me some macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and turkey for the rest of our trip. In Atlanta I visited my aunt on my mom’s side, and she made me a fish sandwich with peppers, onions, cheese, mayo and mustard. I didn’t think I would like it, but it was amazing! Ya’ll have to try it! It was nice not having room service all the time and it’s good to be with family you don’t get to see that much, especially being 3,000 miles away on the West Coast. I was kind of immune to the cold weather they had while we were there since I went to high school and college in that area. It was also nice to just relax and take my mind off of things for a little bit since All-Star break is coming up, and who knows if I’ll be named to the sophomore team?

While we were gone the earthquake in Haiti took place, and it actually hit close to home for me. When we were in Orlando, I met up with my friend Joe who went to Rider with me and now lives there. He’s originally from Haiti and one of the buildings he lived in while he was there recently collapsed in the earthquake. Fortunately, one of the reasons he was in Orlando with his son for a few weeks was to see me play. So it was a blessing for him to be in America when the earthquake happened, even though I’m sure he lost a lot. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and him as well as all of the Haitians.

I’m trying to do as much as I can on my own and through my agency by sending support and money. I just hope the best for all of the people who are going through another tough situation. I think if I was in a situation like that I would want people to help me as well, so that’s the mindset I have in doing what I can to help. I just hope America and guys in the League keep supporting and raising money for the people in Haiti and all people who are struggling out there and are less fortunate. They need a lot of love and support, so I send my thoughts and prayers out to all of them.

It’s been an up and down year for the Kings. We want to finish out the season strong. We’re still young but it shouldn’t be an excuse. You always want to keep getting better. We had a great start to the season and we want to keep it going, starting tonight against the Warriors. I think this is a test. We’re back home and we play really well in Sac, so we just have to get the ARCO crowd to help us out and get back on track.

Coachie didn’t come with us on the road trip, and he was definitely missed. Since we’ve been back, I’ve been staying after practice with him working on some stuff he’s noticed while watching tape of me. He’s teaching me some of the things he wants me to do differently as well as supporting me for the things I’ve been doing that he’s liked. It’s great to have a guy that’s been so successful during his career help me work on my game and help me improve the parts of my game he likes so I can continue to practice and get better.

Shout out to the East Coast and my friends in New Jersey and Philly and all the people who supported me at the Sixers game! Even though we didn’t come out with the W, it was good to play well in front of them and get a couple of dunks. For those who told me to dunk on some people, I did, so they can’t hate when I go back after the season!

Kings fans, keep supporting us! I’m going to keep getting better, keep learning from this experience and we’re going to end the second half of the season strong. It’s not how you start. It’s how you finish.