We live in a jaded society and it is an all too common occurence to see celebrities and sports stars make what regular people consider to be foolish personal decisions.  We have come to expect them to cause their lives to implode.  It is refreshing, though, to read about one of those people taking advantage of their accumulated wealth and doing the right thing.  Yesterday Derek Fisher of the NBA’s Utah Jazz proved to be a stand up family man.

The Utah Jazz agreed to release guard Derek Fisher from his contract Monday so he can concentrate on finding the best care for his 11-month-old daughter, who has cancer in her left eye.

Fisher said he wants to live in one of the six or seven cities being considered for Tatum’s care.

He didn’t rule out playing for another NBA team but emphasized that his daughter’s health is his No. 1 priority.

“Life for me outweighs the game of basketball,” Fisher told reporters after flying from New York to meet with Jazz owner Larry H. Miller and other team executives.

“When it comes to decisions related to them,” he said of his family, “I do what’s best.”

In May, his daughter was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a cancerous tumor in her left eye. The danger is that it could spread to her brain or the rest of her body.

Fisher at times fought exhaustion trying to balance basketball and his daughter’s welfare. He spent a day at a New York hospital in May, then flew to Utah for a Western Conference semifinal game against Golden State.

Only 350 cases of retinoblastoma are diagnosed each year in North America, according to Dr. A. Linn Murphree, director of the retinoblastoma program at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, who is not involved in the Fisher case.

In most cases, patients lose the eye rather than undergo chemotherapy, but there are exceptions.

I applaud Mr. Fisher for putting his family first and I wish his daughter and his entire family the best of luck during their trying times.

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This entry was posted by Brian on Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007 at 9:52 pm and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Please note the copyright policy.