It was a slam-dunk night for one Manhattan boy.
Eight-year-old Marvell CharlesPierre Jr. — known as “MJ” — got to enjoy Monday’s Knicks game in unforgettable fashion, thanks to the Garden of Dreams program, a charity partner of Madison Square Garden. His mother said the experience meant everything for a child who has continued to smile through years of severe sickle cell disease.
MJ, a third grader at PS 15, received a complimentary ticket to Game 3 on Monday and was overwhelmed with excitement, according to his mom, Angelina Rosado.
“Knowing how much crying he’s done and how many hospitals and needles he’s endured, those moments of joy at the game were so amazing,” said Rosado, 33, who lives on the Lower East Side. “He just wants to be a regular kid.”
As part of the special outing, MJ was allowed into the arena early and got to watch the team’s pregame warmups in a nearly empty Madison Square Garden, sharing the moment with celebrities and other special guests.
“He felt like a VIP,” Rosado said, adding that he also received a stylish royal blue Knicks hat.
MJ — who has spent days-long stints in emergency rooms since first being diagnosed with the painful blood disease at 1 month old — was swept away by the excited energy of the crowd as the Knicks took on the Spurs, ultimately losing by just four points.
“To see him jumping up, screaming and cheering — those were super-happy moments,” said Rosado, who posted a heartwarming montage of the game night on Instagram. “His face was lighting up.”
“He was screaming ‘defense!’” she said. “The crowd really hyped him up.”
“It was so dope for me as a mom to see that,” she added.
People like MJ who have sickle cell disease suffer from severe pain when their mutated, crescent-shaped red blood cells clump together and block blood flow.
The blockage —known as a vaso-occlusive crisis — can flare up at unpredictable times, restricting blood flow and leading to severe inflammation and intense pain.
“It’s been an emotional roller coaster,” Rosado said of her son’s “gut wrenching” diagnosis, and first crisis at 11 months old.
“As a mom who has had to deal hospital visits and convincing him he’s gonna be fine in worst pain of his life… to see him having joy — you can’t even buy something like that,” she said.
At the game, MJ, who’s a big Jalen Brunson fan, grinned and flashed the player’s signature hand symbol, said Rosado, who is executive director of the domestic violence non-profit Sisters in Purple.
The duo took their seats in section 214 and were thrilled to learn Bronx-bred rapper Cardi B would perform a surprise halftime show, she said.
Garden of Dreams, non-profit charity that brings “life-changing opportunities to young people in need,” teamed up with the Make-a-Wish foundation to get MJ the coveted tickets.
The charity and its partners have given roughly 500 tickets to help kids in need attend Games 3 and 4 of the Knicks finals, according to a rep for Garden of Dreams.
It will give away 250 more if there’s a Game 6 of the NBA finals.
The charity partners with dozens of groups such as the Children’s Aid Society, Madison Square Boys & Girls, Scan Harbor, and New York Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, to give sick and underserved children tickets to events at the arena.
